A Democratic lawmaker responded to reports that the Iranian government planned to assassinate President Donald Trump by claiming Israel fabricated the plot to push Trump into attacking the regime.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Israeli officials shared intel with Trump suggesting Iran’s regime could be ousted through military force fairly easily. They reportedly informed the president about the plot.
During an appearance on The Source, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Democratic Rep. Adam Smith (WA-09) for his take on the reports about the Iranian plot.
“Well, it’s very hard to tell,” he replied. “I mean, certainly Iran has made the statement… since the killing of Soleimani over six years ago now. It’s also easy to see that Israel would want to sort of buck up Trump, make him more willing to take on Iran more strongly.”
Iranian MP Sabeti urged Parliament to prioritize a bill titled "Revenge on Trump and Other U.S. and Israeli Leaders," as CNN reported Israel warned Washington of an unverified Iranian plot to assassinate President Trump.
— IranWire (@IranWireEnglish) July 10, 2026
More: https://t.co/EZ4Lzj4YjY pic.twitter.com/P0VRcC9aD8
Smith said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has been pushing for that tougher stance, more hawkish approach to Iran for quite some time now, crucially, without any clear plan for how that’s going to turn into some sort of success in terms of fundamentally breaking the Iranian regime.”
The Iranian regime has reportedly concocted several plots to assassinate Trump over the years as revenge for the 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Israel’s warning came this week and revealed a plot that Washington had not tracked before the exchange of information.
Israel warned US of suspected Iranian plot to assassinate Trump
— Ynet Global (@ynetnews) July 10, 2026
The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel shared intelligence with the US that Iran was planning another assassination attempt against Donald Trump; CNN said Washin...https://t.co/Gqp2rSe7SU pic.twitter.com/rU25IkZJzB
“They want to take out the U.S. leader—me,” President Donald Trump told reporters. “I’m on every list. I saw this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long.”
The Justice Department charged an Iranian operative for plotting to assassinate the president before the 2024 election.
🇺🇸🇮🇱
— Ramses Aryana (@RamsesAryanaIAF) July 10, 2026
Israel shared critical intelligence with the United States concerning a new Iranian plot to assassinate @POTUS Trump.
This reflects our commitment to strategic partnership and proactive defense against state-sponsored threats.
2/3
Geopolitically, Iran has sustained its… pic.twitter.com/nfL9dRoWjp
Smith’s response was either the result of ignorance or hyperpartisanship. There’s no evidence Israel pretended Iran had come up with a plan to assassinate Trump so they could push him into toppling the regime.
Moreover, does anyone actually think it’s unrealistic for the Iranian government to have come up with multiple plans to assassinate Trump? Their officials essentially vowed to do this after Soleimani’s killing. There would be no reason for Israel to lie about it. But this is what happens when people like Smith care more about narratives than truth.