U.S. Officials Brief Trump Team On Iranian Threats To Assassinate Him, Campaign Says

U.S. intelligence officials this week informed former President Donald Trump’s team about “specific threats from Iran to assassinate him,” according to Trump’s presidential campaign.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed to NBC News that the Tuesday meeting took place, but did not discuss the contents of the briefing.

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, said U.S. intelligence officials briefed the GOP presidential nominee’s team “regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.”

“Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference,” Cheung said.

Cheung claimed that “the terror regime in Iran loves the weakness of Kamala Harris, and is terrified of the strength and resolve of President Trump,” suggesting Tehran favors Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, in November. Cheung did not offer evidence for this claim.

An official told The Associated Press that the briefing was requested by Trump’s team, and that it did not include information about a new threat to the former president.

Trump has been the target of two assassination attempts in recent months, but there was no evidence to suggest either of those attacks was orchestrated by Tehran.

Still, during a rally in Mint Hill, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Trump claimed Iran was likely to blame.

“As you know, there have been two assassination attempts on my life that we know of, and they may or may not involve, but possibly do, Iran,” he said.

U.S. officials have also previously spoken out about efforts carried out by Iranian hackers to infiltrate the former president’s campaign, in part by sending emails to people associated with then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign “that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails.”

In July, ahead of the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Secret Service expanded Trump’s security over a threat to his life from Iran.

During Wednesday’s campaign event, Trump accused both the FBI and the Justice Department of being slow in pinning down the motives of the two suspects who tried to take his life, suggesting they were more interested in targeting Biden’s political rivals, like himself.

“In the old days, the FBI and the DOJ used to capture people before anything happened,” Trump said. “In current days, the upper echelon of the FBI is all talk, while they focus on the sitting president’s political opponents, that’s what they’re doing.”

Ryan Routh, who authorities say planned to attack Trump earlier this month while the former president was playing golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, was charged with attempted assassination, in addition to other charges.

Thomas Crooks, who attempted to assassinate Trump at his Butler campaign rally in July, was shot by agents shortly after he carried out the attack. Authorities have been unable to pinpoint a motive.

Trump invoked the agency’s work to hold accountable the people who broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 ― whom he described as “hostages” ― to suggest the FBI is not equally interested in bringing to justice those who attempted to take his life.

“We have a lot at stake, whether it’s me or any other former president,” Trump said.

Trump also decried the level of security around Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly this week.

“We have large security forces guarding him, and yet they’re threatening our former president and the leading candidate to become the next president of the United States,” he said. “Certainly a strange set of circumstances.”