(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on February 20, 2026 shows US President Donald Trump (L) gesturing during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025; and a handout picture provided by the office of Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him waving during a ceremony in Tehran on August 24, 2025. US President Donald Trump said on February 19 that Iran must make a "meaningful deal" in negotiations with Washington in the next 10 days or else "bad things happen", as he deployed warships, fighter jets and other military hardware to the region. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / various sources / AFP)
February 28, 2026
Trump tells NBC ‘we feel’ reports of Khamenei death are ‘correct’
PALM BEACH, United States (AFP) — United States (US) President Donald Trump said Saturday that he believes multiple reports that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in air strikes are true — but stopped short of directly confirming the news.
“We feel that that is a correct story,” he was quoted as saying by NBC News.
Trump also spoke to ABC News about reports of Khamenei’s death, saying: “I don’t want to say anything definitively until I see things but we believe he is. And much of their leaders are gone.”
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “many signs” that Khamenei had been killed in an attack on his compound as part of the US-Israeli campaign.
