BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal jury convicted Pakistani national Asif Merchant on Friday of terrorism and murder-for-hire charges in a foiled Iran-linked plot to kill U.S. political figures, including then-candidate Donald Trump, March 6, 2026. Prosecutors said Merchant tried to line up killers as retaliation for the 2020 U.S. strike that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, but the men he approached were working with U.S. law enforcement.
In its post-verdict statement, the Justice Department said Merchant arrived in the United States in April 2024, met purported hit men in New York in June and was arrested in July before he could leave the country. Federal officials said the broader plan also included stealing documents and staging protests alongside the proposed killing.
How the Trump assassination plot case unfolded
Reuters reported that prosecutors said the names discussed in the case included Trump, then-President Joe Biden and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Authorities said Merchant worked at the direction of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, sought help from an acquaintance who instead became a cooperating witness, and paid $5,000 in cash to supposed assassins who were actually undercover officers.
At trial, The Associated Press reported, jurors heard evidence that Merchant sketched out possible attack scenarios on a napkin and described a target who would have “security all around.” His defense argued that he acted under pressure because relatives in Tehran were at risk, but jurors rejected that account and convicted him after a brief period of deliberation. Merchant now faces a possible life sentence.
Why this verdict fits a longer timeline
The case has been building for well over a year. In August 2024, AP’s first report on the charges detailed allegations that Merchant paid an advance to men he believed would carry out political killings on U.S. soil. In September 2024, Reuters reported on his not-guilty plea in Brooklyn, where he denied the charges and remained in custody pending trial.
That earlier reporting makes Friday’s outcome feel less like a sudden twist than the conclusion of a case that had followed the same basic arc since 2024: recruitment, planning, undercover contact, cash payment and arrest. The conviction is also likely to keep attention on long-running U.S. allegations that Iran and affiliated operatives have sought retaliation for Soleimani’s killing, a claim Tehran has denied.
