PDB Afternoon Bulletin | July 10th, 2026: Israel Warns Trump Of Iranian Assassination Plot & Zelensky Reveals China's Warning To Putin

**Max Rushton** (0:00)
33 days, 33 episodes, no off switch. From the goals and the glory to the politics and the problems of the World Cup, if you want soccer analysis from a podcast that's been over analyzing the game for more than 20 years, then this is it. Join me, Max Rushton, and our expert team of soccer journalists every day of the tournament. Can England end 60 years of hurt, or will this be another year of falling just short? Probably. World Cup Daily, listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch full episodes on YouTube.

**Mike Baker** (0:38)
It's Friday, the 10th of July. Welcome to The PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, for years, Iran has openly vowed to kill President Trump. But this week, those threats may have taken on renewed urgency. Israel has reportedly warned Washington that the Iranian regime could be considering a new assassination plot. I'll have the details.
Later in the show, President Zelensky says, China privately warned Vladimir Putin against using nuclear weapons. We'll examine the surprising claim and what it may mean for Putin's broader war strategy. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Israel has reportedly warned the US that Iran may be developing a new plan to assassinate President Trump. It's an allegation that, if confirmed, would represent a dramatic escalation in the confrontation between Washington and Tehran, and would seriously throw a wrench in that whole memorandum of understanding thing. But precisely what Israel uncovered and how seriously American intelligence officials are treating it, that remains unclear. According to The Wall Street Journal, Israel recently shared new intelligence with the US, indicating that Iranian officials were considering a new effort to kill the president. CNN later confirmed that warning through two sources familiar with the matter, with one saying it was delivered this week and concerned a specific plot. However, other officials have offered a more cautious assessment. Two US officials told Israel's Channel 12 that the intelligence described broader discussions among Iranian officials about potentially assassinating Trump rather than a fully developed or active operation. CNN also reports that American intelligence agencies had not independently verified the specific Israeli warning and were not tracking that particular plot before receiving the information.
President Trump also appeared to cast doubt on reports of a new assassination plot in an interview with the New York Post on Friday saying Israel had quote, come up with nothing new while adding that Iran has wanted him dead for years. So at this point, we need to draw an important distinction. There is of course little doubt that Iran would like to see President Trump dead. The regime has openly threatened retaliation since January of 2020 when Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the time the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.
Soleimani was one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic Republic and the architect of Iran's network of proxy forces across the Middle East. By the way, he also had a tremendous amount of blood on his hands. Iranian leaders have repeatedly vowed to avenge his death and US intelligence agencies have long warned that current and former American officials could also be targeted. Those threats have become even more explicit since the latest war began. During funeral ceremonies for Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, mourners chanted for Trump's death and displayed a banner declaring, we will kill Trump. The President referenced the latest threat while speaking to reporters at the NATO Summit Naguera on Wednesday. Trump said, they want to take out the US leader, me, or I'm glad he cleared that up. He continued, I'm on every list. I saw this morning I'm on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I've been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn't last very long. Now there is an important distinction between Iranian officials discussing an assassination, considering possible options, and actively preparing to carry one out. That's exactly what US intelligence agencies will now be working to determine as they evaluate and attempt to corroborate the Israeli intelligence. Complicating matters, however, several American officials have reportedly questioned whether Israel may be using the warning, at least in part, to influence President Trump's decisions about Iran. That doesn't mean the intelligence is fabricated. Countries routinely share valid intelligence, while also understanding that the information may shape the policies of an ally. Both things, of course, can be true at once. But the timing is impossible to ignore. The warning arrived as Trump weighs just how far to take renewed American military operations against Iran following Tehran's attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and subsequent strikes targeting US military facilities across the region.