Israel shared intelligence with US of Iranian plot to assassinate Trump, sources say

Israel shared intelligence with the United States that Iran had recently devised a new plan to assassinate President Donald Trump, two sources familiar with matter told CNN.

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One of the sources said the warning came this week. Another source said the US had picked up a steady drumbeat of intelligence in recent weeks about possible plans to assassinate Trump, but the warning from Israel was new and concerned a specific plot.

The details of that plot were not immediately clear, nor was it clear if the US had detected it separately from the Israeli warning.

Asked for comment on the Israeli warning, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the White House pointed to Trump’s recent comments on Iran’s desire to kill him.

“They want to take out the US leader — me,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people. And we have to root out that cancer. That cancer. You know what you do? You’ve got to cut out cancer early. And that’s the way I feel.”

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Tensions have ramped up between the US and Iran in recent days, with the two sides trading threats and strikes as a 60-day ceasefire ending hostilities is in tatters. A US official, however, said diplomatic efforts are underway behind the scenes.

Multiple officials said there had preparations for potential strikes if needed Thursday night, but they were foregoing them in favor of diplomacy. Earlier Thursday on the USS Abraham Lincoln, crews loaded up fighter jets with armaments and pilots did drills in the event they were called on to conduct strikes. The aircraft carrier’s Commanding Officer Dan Keeler told the thousands of crew members on board things were heating up.

As preparations were underway, fighter pilots continued to operate routine defensive operations with flights taking off throughout the day and night.

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This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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