Israeli reports say Iran plans drone attack to kill Trump and top officials

What the reports allege

Israeli intelligence has identified what it describes as an Iranian plan to assassinate US President Donald Trump and to target several senior officials in his administration, according to the Israeli daily Israel Hayom. The paper says Tehran has been weighing drone attacks to kill American officials, and that the plan would involve drones carrying explosives. Israel Hayom relies on senior Israeli and American officials, most of them speaking anonymously. The reports link the alleged plotting to the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the joint American-Israeli military operation against Iran. They also say Iran intended the attack as retaliation for Khamenei's killing. Mediafax reports that an attack could take place within the coming weeks, though no source gives a specific date.

Intelligence channels

Mossad director Roman Gofman is currently in the United States, where he met CIA director John Ratcliffe, according to the Israeli reports. Mediafax says Gofman personally passed the information on Iran's plans to Ratcliffe. Israel Hayom says Israel confirmed the information at the request of US authorities, after American intelligence asked Mossad to verify the threats. Gofman has made several trips to the US since taking up his post, keeping close contact and coordination with American counterparts, the same source says. A senior official, speaking anonymously, said US authorities were already aware of Iranian threats against some members of the Trump administration. The claim that another Western intelligence agency confirmed the reports comes only from the same Israeli and American sources, and no agency is named.

Security measures in Washington

According to the reports, officials considered vulnerable have sharply reduced their public appearances, and some have been moved temporarily from their private homes into secured facilities. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are among those said to be under a special protection regime. Bessent is reported to have moved temporarily to a US military base after receiving Iranian threats, and Rubio is said to have left his home for quarters on a base. Similar heightened measures were reportedly applied to Hegseth, who leads the Pentagon. The US Secret Service is said to have tightened protection around Trump as well, cutting back on his public appearances, and any appearance he makes now reportedly comes with extra protection. The US administration has not commented officially on the matter.

Iran's response and open questions

Tehran has denied the accusations entirely, according to Mediafax. Neither the White House nor the CIA has officially confirmed the reports. All of the detail comes from anonymous officials cited by Israel Hayom, so the allegations cannot be independently verified from the articles. Informants told Israel Hayom that the latest intelligence was meant to change the American approach to negotiations with Tehran, though the reports do not say how. The reports also say Americans were aware of such risks before, and that concern intensified after Khamenei's death. So far the only official response on record is Tehran's denial.