Iran was preparing to assassinate Trump and Pompeo: new details from intelligence
In 2022, Iran was developing a plan to assassinate then-US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, and in 2024 - former President Donald Trump, which caused a significant resonance in American intelligence circles. This is stated in an excerpt from the upcoming book "2024: How Trump Retook the White House and Democrats Lost America", which is due to be published in July 2025, reports the American publication The Washington Post. According to intelligence data, Iranian special services were persistently planning to destroy or injure high-ranking US officials, including Pompeo. The operation to eliminate him was almost completed - it took place in a hotel in Paris, and then, according to sources, the Secretary of State "miraculously escaped." Meanwhile, in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, intelligence officials told Trump that his old enemy, Iran, was recruiting professional assassins who were already stationed in the United States and ready to strike. This added to the anxiety of the former leader’s team, who had been living in a state of constant tension ever since. The location, which came to be known as Mar-a-Lago — Trump’s mansion and private club in Palm Beach — had effectively become a kind of fortification. To avoid any risks, Trump sometimes used a duplicate plane owned by his confidant Steve Witkoff, who is now the president’s special envoy for the Middle East. At the same time, to ensure security, Secret Service agents provided escort on decoy planes and followed the president from the runway at the time of takeoff to neutralize any possible attacks or sabotage. Iranian intelligence services were particularly active in trying to organize assassinations of American officials during the 2024 election period: according to unofficial data, this happened at least three times. Now American investigators are finding out whether these attempts have a direct connection with Tehran and whether the Iranians acted in conjunction with domestic or foreign fighters. The authors of the book, based on hundreds of interviews with senior White House officials, law enforcement officers and campaign participants, as well as an analysis of internal documents, diaries, emails, audio recordings and calendar entries, are trying to recreate the picture of those dramatic events. Among them, there are two assassination attempts on Trump in 2023. The first incident occurred on July 14 during his rally in Butler, where a bullet hit him in the ear, but there were no serious consequences. The second attempt occurred on September 15 near a golf club in Florida. Both events are still under investigation, and the investigation is trying to determine whether there is a direct connection between the perpetrators and the state of Iran. The details of the operational portfolio described in the book indicate a high level of planning and covert measures by Iranian intelligence services, which sought to thwart Trump's return to power as effectively as possible. Investigators are now focused on clarifying the motivation and possible connections between the perpetrators of the attacks and decision-making centers in Tehran. Overall, these data confirm how tense the situation around the former American president has become and demonstrate that the geopolitical struggle for power and influence has its dark sides, which can have serious consequences for the security of the entire world.