President Trump has said he took out Ayatollah Khamenei before “he got me” seemingly referring to the failed Iranian assassination attempts orchestrated against him.
“I got him before he got me,” Trump told ABC News Sunday as he reacted to the death of the Iranian Supreme Leader, 86. “They tried twice. Well I got him first.”
Iran has been threatening to assassinate Trump since 2020, in response to the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
And in June last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Iran orchestrated two failed assassination attempts on Trump in 2024.
Netanyahu was probed on the claim before adding: “Through proxies, yes. Through their intel, yes. They want to kill him.”
An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official ordered Farhad Shakeri to stalk and assassinate Trump in the final weeks of the 2024 campaign.
Shakeri, who previously spent time in US prisons for robbery, told the FBI that an IRGC contact told him to create a plan within 7 days to surveil and kill Trump, according to a criminal compliant unsealed in a Manhattan federal court.
If Shakeri failed to meet the deadline, then the hit would’ve been postponed as the official believed it would have been easier to kill Trump if he lost the election.
Iran dismissed suggestions it was involved in attempts to assassinate US officials.
But, the regime has previously shared a clip that promoted a drone attack on Trump at his Mar-a-Lago golf course.
In the video, a robotic system piloted by Iranian operatives focuses in on Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo while they are on the course.
And, a text message from an Iranian operator is sent, which says: “Soleimani’s murderer and the one who gave the order will pay the price.”
The Iranian agents take out both men and the clip ends with the words: “Revenge is Definite.”
Trump revealed he left “very firm instructions” for Iran to be blown up if ever the regime carried out its threat.
“Anything ever happens, the whole country is going to get blown up,” he told NewsNation in January.
“I would absolutely hit them so hard. But I have very firm instructions.”
