Donald Trump is one of the most adored presidents by his followers and probably the one most despised by those who don’t agree with him.
The dynamics of the two-party system in the US always bring strong support and strong opposition at the same time. The result of disturbing this delicate balance is assassination attempts on the life of the most powerful man in the world. During his campaigns for 2024 presidential elections, Donald Trump also faced two assassination attempts on his life.
These were originally thought to be internal matters, and no one imagined the hand of a foreign power behind them.
But as time passed, the Secret Service came to the conclusion that the then-republican-nominee was under attack from one of the most probable foreign adversaries, Iran.
According to Axios reporter Alex Isenstadt’s new book, which he released online, federal law enforcement officials had informed Donald Trump last year that Iran had smuggled agents with access to surface-to-air missiles into the United States.
This was in retaliation to the assassination of Iran’s military leader Qasem Soleiman.
🚨 BREAKING: The FBI thwarted an Iranian plan to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump during his reelection bid.
The indictment specifically cites “vengeance” for Trump’s killing of Soleimani as a motivating factor. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/WKsSyJ3B98
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) November 8, 2024
Once the threat was confirmed, what came next was not short of any spy movie. The agents on duty to protect Donald Trump quickly realized that Trump’s Force One plane, which he frequently used to travel during the campaign, was an easy target, as per Daily Mail.
That is why, during one of the events, agents decided to use the private plane of Trump’s buddy and real estate executive, Steve Witkoff. The private jet had Donald Trump and one of his campaign leaders. The rest of the staffers were made to fly Force One. No one was aware of the plane until the plane was in the air.
This resulted in a disgruntled response from campaign staffers who were sure that they were going to be collateral damage if the plane was to be hit by missiles. The Secret Service was already sure they were in the country,
It was also revealed that, throughout the flight, while staff was gripped with fear and anxiety, gallow humor was at its peak. The flight later came to be known as the “Ghost Flight” among the staffers.
Upon arrival at their destination, the staff and Trump were made to travel in different motorcades as the threat was still looming, and no one wanted to be at the receiving end of it.
Seeing this, Donald Trump has suggested not to mention the killing of Qasem Soleimani anymore in his speech and try to move the attention away from this particular incident.
#REPORT Axios: Trump’s team was warned that Iran’s assassination threats were more serious than reported. Iran allegedly placed operatives in the U.S. with surface-to-air missiles to target his plane. Security also advised Trump to avoid car windows due to sniper threats. pic.twitter.com/NXgYfhcJTx
— Conflict Radar (@Conflict_Radar) February 9, 2025
Trump was also very much aware of the threat to his life and was not keen on making it the headline. He was afraid the country would get “assassination exhaustion” and would not want a leader who was continuously under attack.
Later on, a Pakistani national was also arrested as a suspect. FBI Director Chris Wray described ‘murder-for-hire’ conspiracy to kill a politician or government person, which involved a Pakistani national, as being ‘ straight out of the Iranian regime’s playbook.’
🚨JUST IN: The Justice Department unsealed charges today revealing an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump before the recent presidential election. According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official instructed Farjad… pic.twitter.com/YZfKPcGshM
— Awesome Jew (@JewsAreTheGOAT) November 8, 2024
The FBI also called 51-year-old Farhad Shakeri an “asset of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.”
Though Donald Trump tried to avoid mentioning his threat as much as possible, he did say it once on his Truth Social.
