Hegseth confirms Iran tried to kill Trump and US targeted, killed assassination team leader

"Yesterday, the leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed. Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh," Hegseth said, adding that it was not a "mission accomplished situation," but rather a "reality check."

He later said that the administration "has known for a long time that Iran had intentions on trying to kill President Donald Trump, and/or other US officials. And while that was not the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination, in fact, never raised by the President or anybody else, I ensured and others ensured that those who were responsible for that were eventually part of the target list."

He said that "ultimately, if we had the opportunity to get at those who are trying to get at Americans specifically, we would, and so we eventually had the opportunity to do that from the air."

Trump has faced multiple threats from Iran-linked actors over the years. In 2024, Iranian-linked actors attempted to put together an assassination plot to take out Trump while he was on the campaign trail, per Fox News. There were also assassination threats in 2020 from Iran after the US killing of General Qasem Soleimani, and in 2022, an Iranian animated video depicted an assassination attempt on Trump while he was out golfing.

Multiple high-ranking Iranian officials have been killed in US and Israeli strikes since Saturday, including the Ayatollah. Six US troops were killed after an Iranian strike on a Kuwaiti operations center, with four of those six being identified as: Capt. Cody Khork, 35; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20.