President Donald Trump appeared to be seemingly proud of eliminating Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl spoke to the president on the night of Sunday, March 1, and disclosed their conversation on the social media platform X.
In a post, Karl wrote, “In another phone call this evening, President Trump told me this about the death of Ayatollah Khamenei: ‘I got him before he got me. They tried twice. Well, I got him first.’”
Trump’s comment referred to an assassination plot against him in 2024. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death was an unprecedented move, and sent shockwaves across the world amid the US-Israel joint strikes on Iran.
In another phone call this evening, President Trump told me this about the death of Ayatollah Khamenei:
“I got him before he got me. They tried twice. Well I got him first.”
That’s a reference to what US intelligence believes was a plot to kill Trump in 2024.
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) March 2, 2026
Karl also wrote about another conversation he had with Trump on who might get elected as the next leader of Iran. “President Trump told me tonight the U.S. had identified possible candidates to take over Iran, but they were killed in the initial attack.”
He further stated, “’The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates,’ Trump told me. ‘It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead’.”
Karl disclosed a lot of important information, specifically about how long the war is expected to last. During their conversation, when Karl asked Trump, “How long do you think this will last?” the president’s answer was simple.
“As long as we want it to, actually. But it’s done such damage already. It’s like — they are incapacitated, essentially,” he reportedly stated.
I talked to the president over the phone a short while ago and asked him how long US military operations against Iran would go on.
JK: How long do you think this will last?
Trump: “As long as we want it to, actually. But it’s done such damage already. It’s like — they are…
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) February 28, 2026
Karl further questioned, “What do you think the next leadership looks like? Have you identified anybody?” To this, Trump vaguely replied, “Yes. We have a very good idea.”
Farhad Shakeri was arrested in November 2024 for plotting to kill Trump. His attack was thought to be an answer to the 2020 drone strike that Trump ordered against Iran.
At the time, Attorney General Merrick Garland stated in a statement, “The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump.”
Two New Yorkers were also arrested for being involved in this plan. They were charged with murder-for-hire, as Shakeri contacted them to kill activist Masih Alinejad as well.
