Trump claims Iran twice tried to kill him, defends Khamenei strike
Published on Mar 03, 2026 11:17 am IST
U.S. President Donald Trump is now framing the Iran war in personal-security terms, alleging Tehran tried to assassinate him twice and suggesting the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was pre-emptive. ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl quoted Trump as saying, “I got him before he got me… They tried twice. Well I got him first,” calling it a reference to what U.S. intelligence believed was a 2024 plot. The claims come as Iran’s retaliation narrative intensifies, including disputed battlefield assertions such as Tehran’s claim it hit the USS Abraham Lincoln—an allegation CENTCOM has publicly rejected as false.
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