'Stay alive and win': Iran plotted assassinations of Trump and Pompeo - WP
Photo: Donald Trump, President of the United States (Getty Images)
Iranian agents were preparing to assassinate Donald Trump during his election campaign. The politician’s security detail was forced to switch to a "wartime mode" and recently tightened protection once again, according to The Washington Post.
The report notes that these details are included in a forthcoming book about the current president’s campaign titled "2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America," authored by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, and Isaac Arnsdorf. The book is scheduled for release next month.
According to the book, in September 2024, US intelligence informed Trump’s campaign team that Iranian assassins were present on US soil. The threat significantly altered the candidate’s daily routine, forcing changes in travel routes and security protocols during the campaign.
Law enforcement agencies are reportedly investigating whether individuals involved in the assassination plots had ties to Iranian intelligence services, though no such links have been confirmed so far.
Assassination attempt on Mike Pompeo
The book also claims that in the three years leading up to Trump’s return to the presidency, Iranian agents attempted to assassinate top US officials at least three times.
Two of those attempts had previously been disclosed, but this is the first time details have emerged about an alleged 2022 plot to kill former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Paris.
According to the book, Iranian operatives learned the name of the hotel where Pompeo was staying and tried to carry out an attack. He reportedly escaped unharmed, though no further details are provided.
Photo: US Secretary of State, 2018–2021 (Getty Images)
The authors of the book refer to interviews with hundreds of individuals, including members of the campaign team, White House staff, law enforcement officials, as well as internal memos, emails, calendar entries, and audio recordings.
In his book Never Give an Inch (2023), Pompeo claimed that a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who had been charged with plotting to assassinate John Bolton, also planned to hire a hitman to kill Pompeo himself for a $1 million reward.
Pompeo wrote that the plot was well-organized and that attackers had surveilled his home and office. He also noted that other US citizens, including former Trump administration officials, military personnel, and civilians, remain on the Iranian intelligence services’ target list.
Mission: Survive
On September 24, 2024, Donald Trump was informed of several Iranian hit squads operating within the United States. Six weeks later, authorities arrested a person described as an Iranian agent, who, according to investigators, was preparing an assassination attempt against Trump. No further arrests have been made in connection with the case.
Under pressure from the threat, Trump’s team took security measures into their own hands: chemical weapon sensors were installed in campaign offices, a bomb-detecting robot patrolled Mar-a-Lago, staff members were armed, and political director James Blair kept a bulletproof vest under his desk. Following threats, the Republican National Committee also deployed security to guard the home of one of the campaign’s senior officials.
The book notes that the ongoing threats affected Trump emotionally, particularly due to restrictions on his usual activities, such as playing golf.
Summing up the campaign, Trump reportedly told the authors: "Stay alive and win. Because if I don’t, we are f***ed."
Decoy planes and new threats
The book emphasizes that threats to Trump’s life in 2024 had a significant impact on his presidential campaign. Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s Florida residence, was effectively turned into a fortified compound.
Security officials convinced Trump to travel using a decoy plane owned by investor Steve Witkoff, who now serves as a US special envoy to the Middle East. In some cases, additional decoy planes and escorted vehicles were used on runways.
Trump’s team altered event logistics and travel plans, and during one incident, Secret Service agents ordered him to board a plane quickly and keep his head down due to the threat of a sniper or missile strike.
Despite the increased security, there were two assassination attempts against Trump in 2024: one during a rally in Butler, where a bullet grazed his ear, and another in West Palm Beach, where an armed man was arrested after leaving a note expressing intent to kill the politician. Investigations into both incidents are ongoing, though no direct link to Iran has been established.
Following recent US airstrikes on Iran, American and Western intelligence services have warned of possible retaliation from Tehran or its proxy groups.
Trump has stated that the United States is prepared to launch further strikes against Iran if it threatens to develop new nuclear weapons.
