The Blubber

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during an appearance on Fox News, claimed that Iran has attempted to assassinate former U.S. President Donald Trump on two occasions.

In an interview with host Bret Baier, Netanyahu defended Israel’s recent missile strikes inside Iran, framing them as a necessary response to an existential threat. He questioned whether a regime that “chants ‘death to America’” and has “tried to assassinate President Trump twice” should ever possess nuclear weapons and the delivery systems capable of reaching American cities.

Baier followed up on the assertion, asking for clarification about the alleged assassination attempts.

“Through proxies, yes,” Netanyahu responded. “Through their intel, yes, they want to kill him,” he said, emphasizing that in Iran’s eyes, Trump is “enemy number one.”

The interview marked Netanyahu’s first major media appearance since Israel launched a series of strikes on Iranian territory. The attacks reportedly targeted key figures in Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure and have intensified concerns about a broader regional war.

Trump has previously claimed threats on his life from Iran. In July, the U.S. Secret Service increased protective measures after reportedly uncovering a plot to assassinate the former president ahead of a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Then in September, Trump publicly stated that Iran had made “big threats” against him. By November, the U.S. Department of Justice had charged Iranian national Farhad Shakeri in connection with a murder-for-hire scheme allegedly aimed at killing Trump.

Netanyahu praised Trump’s approach to Iran during his presidency, calling him a “decisive leader” who resisted international pressure to engage in conciliatory diplomacy with Tehran. “He never took the path that others took,” Netanyahu said, criticizing past efforts to negotiate with Iran. He argued those policies enabled the Islamic Republic to continue enriching uranium and edged it closer to nuclear capability—while receiving financial relief.

The Israeli leader highlighted Trump’s 2018 decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, a deal brokered by the Obama administration that aimed to limit Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

According to Netanyahu, the recent strikes, which have reportedly killed senior military personnel and nuclear scientists, were intended to disrupt Iran’s nuclear ambitions and prevent the regime from achieving a nuclear weapon.