After being asked whether Iran had activated sleeper cells inside the United States, President Trump said U.S. officials know \u201ca lot\u201d about them but blamed the DHS shutdown for limiting the response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump was asked whether Iran had activated any sleeper cells inside the United States. He responded<\/a> by saying Iran had \u201cbeen trying for a long time\u201d and that the U.S. was \u201cvery much on top of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know a lot about them, but the shutdown doesn\u2019t allow us to do what we have to do,\u201d Trump added, after blaming Democrats for the DHS shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The question followed an ABC News report<\/a> earlier Monday that said a federal alert sent to law enforcement warned that encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran may serve as \u201can operational trigger\u201d for sleeper assets outside the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to ABC, the alert cited preliminary signals analysis of a transmission \u201clikely of Iranian origin\u201d that was relayed across multiple countries shortly after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The transmission was encoded and appeared to be intended for clandestine recipients who possess the encryption key, allowing instructions to be passed to covert operatives or sleeper assets without using the internet or cellular networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The alert said the transmissions could be intended to activate or provide instructions to prepositioned sleeper assets operating outside the originating country, though it added there was no operational threat tied to a specific location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The alert instructed law enforcement agencies to increase monitoring of suspicious radio-frequency activity, according to ABC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump previously acknowledged the possibility of retaliatory attacks in the United States in an interview published by Time<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI guess,\u201d Trump said when asked whether Americans should be worried. \u201cBut I think they\u2019re worried about that all the time. We think about it all the time. We plan for it. But yeah, you know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In June 2025, before the U.S. strikes on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities, Iran reportedly warned Trump through an intermediary it would activate sleeper-cell operatives in the United States if the sites were targeted, according to an NBC News report<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n .@POTUS<\/a> on the potential for Iranian sleeper cells: "We've been very much on top of it. One of the things we have to do is get the Democrats to stop the Democrat shutdown because, as you know, the apparatus that looks into that (@DHSgov<\/a>), Schumer the Democrats have shut it down." pic.twitter.com\/n8Z5T5ZoNM<\/a><\/p>— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 9, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>