'Trump Got the Last Laugh' After U.S. Forces 'Hunted Down' Potential Iranian Assassin ...

‘Trump Got the Last Laugh’ After U.S. ‘Hunted Down and Killed’ Iranian Accused of Plotting to Assassinate President, Says Pete Hegseth The secretary of defense also boasted that a U.S. submarine took out an Iranian war ship in the "first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II" By Meredith Kile Meredith Kile Meredith Kile is a Digital News Writer-Editor at PEOPLE. She has been an entertainment and political journalist for more than a decade, previously working for Entertainment Tonight, VICE and Al Jazeera America. People Editorial Guidelines Published on March 4, 2026 01:10PM EST 6 Comments Pete Hegseth. Credit : Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg/Getty NEED TO KNOW Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave an update on the war in Iran on March 4Hegseth alleged that a recent U.S. attack took out an Iranian plotting to assassinate President Donald TrumpHegseth also boasted that a U.S. submarine recently fired at an Iranian war ship in what he claimed was "the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II" Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave an update on the war in Iran on Wednesday, March 4, claiming U.S. and Israeli forces have "only just started to hunt, dismantle, demoralize, destroy and defeat their capabilities." Speaking during a press conference held at the Pentagon, Hegseth — who has rebranded his agency as the "Department of War" — said, "We are only four days into this and the results have been incredible; historic, really." "Only the United States of America could lead this, but when you add the Israeli defensive forces — a devastatingly capable force — the combination is sheer destruction for our radical Islamist Iranian advisaries," he continued. "They are toast and they know it, or at least soon enough, they will know it." Hegseth claimed that one recent U.S. attack took out a man who was allegedly plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump. "We've known for a long time that Iran had intentions on trying to kill President Trump and/or other US officials. And while that was not the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination, and in fact never raised by the president or anybody else, I ensured and others ensured that those who were responsible for that were eventually part of the target list," he said. "We eventually had the opportunity to do that from the air." “Iran tried to kill President Trump. And President Trump got the last laugh,” he added. Men watch from a hillside as a plume of smoke rises after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, on March 2, 2026. Majid Saeedi/Getty Hegseth also vowed to "avenge" the six U.S. troops who were killed by a drone strike on Sunday, March 1, in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. So far, four of the six have been identified: Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20. "We are playing for keeps. Our war fighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly. Our rules of engagement are bold, precise, and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it," Hegseth said. "This was never meant to be a fair fight and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them when they are down, which is exactly what it should be." "We will fly all day and night finding and fixing the military bases of the Iranian military; finding and fixing their leaders," he said, later vowing, "Death and destruction from the sky, all day long." Air attacks aren't the only tactics the U.S. is employing in its siege on Iran. Hegseth also told reporters that the U.S. Navy is attacking Iranian targets. “An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo, quiet death," he said, "the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.” Our new app is here! Free, fun and full of exclusives. Scan to download now! The U.S. and Israel launched "massive and ongoing" military action in Iran, code-named "Operation Epic Fury," in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 28. President Trump, 79, declared war from Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., saying, "For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops, and the innocent people in many, many countries." Iran retaliated soon after, striking a U.S. military base in Bahrain. Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, all home to U.S. bases, also confirmed they had intercepted missiles from Iran. Related Stories 4 U.S. Soldiers Killed in War with Iran Identified by Pentagon U.S. Consulate in Dubai Attacked by Drone as War with Iran Escalates Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. In the days since, roughly 800 people have died, according to officials and news reports. The majority of the casualties have been in Iran: The Iranian Red Crescent Society said on Tuesday, March 3, that the death toll there has increased to 787, according to NBC News, Al Jazeera and The Wall Street Journal. “Relief operations are ongoing, with 1,009 emergency response teams deployed across 153 affected counties,” the Red Crescent Society said, according to the Journal. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was among those killed. His successor has not yet been announced. Close Leave a Comment Read more: Politics