‘I Got Him Before He Got Me’: Trump On Death Of Khamenei In Joint US-Israel Strike
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Last Updated:March 02, 2026, 12:26 IST
The US president’s reference to “they tried twice” alludes to what American intelligence agencies reportedly assessed as a 2024 plot linked to Iran to target him.
resetRapid ReadRapid ReadSummarized by AI.+Trump alleges Khamenei attempted to kill him twice before US-Israel strikeKhamenei killed in US-Israeli strike; Trump claims creditUS intelligence linked a 2024 plot to Iran targeting Trump More Rapid Read Like this summary?Share Your Feedback
US President Donald Trump claimed that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had tried to get him killed twice, saying he “got him first" following the recent Israel-US strikes that killed the supreme leader of Iran. Follow Live Updates
The remarks were shared by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, who said Trump made the comment during a phone call on Sunday evening.
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“President Trump told me this about the death of Ayatollah Khamenei: “I got him before he got me. They tried twice. Well, I got him first." That’s a reference to what US intelligence believes was a plot to kill Trump in 2024," Karl wrote in a post on X.
In another phone call this evening, President Trump told me this about the death of Ayatollah Khamenei:“I got him before he got me. They tried twice. Well I got him first."
That’s a reference to what US intelligence believes was a plot to kill Trump in 2024.
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) March 2, 2026
Trump’s statement comes two days after Khamenei was killed in joint US-Israeli strikes. The US president’s reference to “they tried twice" alludes to what American intelligence agencies reportedly assessed as a 2024 plot linked to Iran to target him.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 and sworn enemy of the West, was killed in the opening salvo of a massive US and Israeli attack, sparking a new wave of retaliatory missile strikes from Tehran on Sunday.
Also Read: Explosions In Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Jerusalem, Sirens In Tel Aviv As Iran Intensifies Strikes
Iranian state television had confirmed Khamenei’s death, hours after President Donald Trump announced the killing of the 86-year-old cleric he described as “one of the most evil people in history".
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched the “most ferocious" operation in history against Israel and US bases, which are located in Gulf countries that were already counting the cost of an unprecedented series of deadly Iranian strikes.
2024 Assassination Attempts On Trump
In 2024, Donald Trump was linked to multiple alleged assassination attempts. In July, he was injured when a gunman opened fire during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, with a bullet grazing his ear. A second incident occurred in September, when a man was arrested after allegedly pointing a rifle at Trump while he was golfing at his course in West Palm Beach.
Later that year, US authorities charged Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national deported from the United States in 2008, in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Trump. According to the Justice Department, Shakeri was described as an “Iranian asset" who had been tasked by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with planning Trump’s killing.
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