Israel has alerted the United States to a new Iranian plot to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday night, as tensions between Washington and Tehran spike again over the Strait of Hormuz.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the WSJ said Israeli officials passed fresh intelligence to their US counterparts warning of an active Iranian plan targeting the US leader.
Neither Israel’s embassy in Washington nor Iran’s Mission to the UN immediately commented.
The White House referred questions to Trump himself, who addressed the threat while speaking to reporters in Ankara on Wednesday during the NATO summit.
“They want to take out the US leader, me,” Trump said. “I’m on every list. I saw this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long.”
The intelligence warning came as thousands of mourners gathered in Mashhad on Thursday for the funeral cortege of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Video and images showed crowds chanting: “I swear by the blood of the Supreme Leader, Trump, we will kill you!” Women held placards reading “Kill Trump.”
The scenes underscored the heightened rhetoric out of Iran following the latest US strikes on Iranian assets in the Gulf.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone Thursday night to coordinate on Iran.
According to officials, Trump briefed Netanyahu on US operations in the Gulf. Netanyahu, in turn, warned Trump against approving a potential F-35 fighter jet deal with Turkey.
Netanyahu also raised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent remarks against Israel’s existence and stressed the need for security zones along Israel’s borders.
A White House official told Walla that despite the call, there are currently no plans for an in-person meeting between Trump and Netanyahu.
The reported plot warning follows a fresh round of US-Iran clashes near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints.
US officials have repeatedly cited Iran’s Quds Force and proxy networks as behind previous attempts on Trump’s life since the 2020 killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani.