Claim: A video shows a recent attempted assassination of US President Donald Trump.
Fact: The video shows an attempt on Trump’s life, which took place in July 2024, during his presidential election campaign. No credible news reports say that another attempt on the US President’s life took place recently.
On 23 June, a Facebook user “Akhter Dx Bhat” posted a video (archive) purportedly showing a second attempted assassination of US President Donald Trump. “Breaking News. Trump has bowed to Iran. Another assassination attempt on Trump”, reads the text embedded in the video.
The video in question was posted in the wake of US attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites in Iran on 21 June 2025. The embedded text hence implies that an attempt on Trump’s life was made after tensions escalated between the Trump administration and Iran, following US strikes on Iran.
The voiceover in the video further states: “There has been a shooting targeting Donald Trump, but he is safe. No details about the incident are available yet. This statement has been released by the Trump administration. Former U.S. President Donald Trump.”
The video in the claim is a montage of two clips. Initially, the footage shows Trump ducking after a shot is fired. Then, at 0:03, the clip suddenly cuts to a scene that shows him getting up, surrounded by his security team.
Israel-Iran conflict
Early morning on 13 June, Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear sites and military bases. The attacks have also struck residential areas.
The missiles targeted the Natanz nuclear site, Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility. Israel also struck the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, damaging four buildings.
Israel’s attacks killed top Iranian nuclear scientists and military officials. The military officials killed included General Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, and Major General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Gholamali Rashid, the head of the IRGC’s Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh were also killed in the attack.
In response, Iran launched drones towards Israel, some of which were reportedly intercepted by Jordan and also spotted in Iraq’s airspace. According to an Israeli military official, the country’s air defences had “shot down many of the over 100 drones launched by Iran.”
US strikes Iran
While the US initially distanced itself from this attack, calling Israel’s actions “unilateral”, US President Donald Trump later called the attack “excellent”. He asserted that more were to come unless Iran agrees to a deal with the US on its nuclear program. On 16 June, Trump warned Iranian citizens to “immediately evacuate” Tehran, and called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” the following day. Trump said the US knew where Iran’s supreme leader was hiding, but did not want him killed “for now.”
On 18 June, Khamenei rejected Trump’s call for surrender, deemed it a threat and warned that any US “strikes on its territory” would have “serious irreparable consequences.”
On 21 June, the US joined the conflict by attacking three nuclear sites in Iran. The US pilots dropped 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs, supported by the Tomahawk missiles, targeting nuclear sites in Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz.
International responses largely reflected dismay and urged restraint. “I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today,” said the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and described the US attack as a “dangerous escalation.”
China, Russia, and Oman condemned the US attacks on Iran, while Japan and Italy called for de-escalation, and other countries urged restraint.
Iran responded by launching missiles at the US forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on 23 June.
Soon after, the US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. However, hours later, reports emerged that Israel and Iran continued to exchange attacks. Trump censured both countries for violating the agreement, “but reserved his harshest condemnation for Israel”. While addressing the media, the US President added that “Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before.”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse-image search using stills from the video and found that it was old footage of an attempt of assassination on Donald Trump from July 2024. It was rehashed to falsely claim that a second such incident occurred in June 2025.
The attempted assassination of Trump occurred during an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, while he was campaigning for the US presidential election. Moments after the rally began, the suspect fired several shots from a nearby roof. A bullet grazed Trump, nicking him in the ear, but caused no further damage. The attacker, identified as the 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by the Secret Service sniper on the spot.
In July 2024, the BBC wrote an article (archive) covering the incident, which included footage captioned, “Donald Trump ducks as shots are heard during his Pennsylvania rally”. This footage closely matches the clip in the claim at two points:
- From the beginning of the BBC video to timestamp 0:05, which corresponds with the first three seconds of the video being fact-checked.
- Again at 1:07, which matches the video in question from 0:04 onwards.
The BBC article strongly suggests that the claim includes an old video of an attempted assassination of Trump.
ABC News also posted the same video on its YouTube channel with the caption, “Video shows moment of Trump assassination attempt at rally” on 14 July 2024. Key moments in the YouTube video, at 0:10 and 1:11, match the footage in the claim, specifically at the start and then from 0:04 onwards.
Moreover, an attempt of assassination on Trump was widely reported last year. Any recent attempt on his life would have also received similar coverage, but there has been no reporting on any such incident.
Therefore, the claim is false, and the accompanying footage is old.
Virality
The Facebook post was viewed over 1.9 million times and received 17,000 likes.
It was also posted on Facebook here, here, and here.
On Instagram here.
The video appeared on YouTube here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video does not depict a recent attempt to assassinate US President Donald Trump. The video is from last year, when Trump survived an attempt on his life while campaigning for the presidential election in July 2024.
Background image in cover photo: kark.com
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