WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews) – In a phone interview with ABC News on Sunday night, President Trump asserted that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in recent joint U.S.-Israeli strikes, framing the operation as preemptive self-defense amid prior Iranian threats against him.

“I got him before he got me. They tried twice. Well I got him first,” Trump said, apparently referring to reported Iranian intelligence plots to assassinate him, including during his 2024 presidential campaign.

Iranian state media confirmed Khamenei’s death at age 86 following the strikes on Feb. 28, 2026, which targeted sites around Tehran and left the regime’s leadership in disarray.

Asked about potential successors to lead Iran, Trump indicated that U.S. expectations for moderate or preferred figures had been upended.

“All my picks had been already been killed,” he told ABC News. “The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates. It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead.”

His comments appeared to suggest either extensive collateral damage in the strikes or possible differences in targeting priorities between the U.S. and Israel, though no officials immediately confirmed or elaborated on specific miscommunications.

The strikes have plunged Iran into a leadership crisis, with a temporary three-person council assuming interim authority under the constitution while the Assembly of Experts prepares to select a new supreme leader. The process remains uncertain amid ongoing military operations and internal power struggles.