Trump Dismisses Concerns Over FBI Memo On Iranian Drone Attack In California: 'I Don't Worry'

Last Updated:March 13, 2026, 20:44 IST

Trump was asked about an alleged FBI alert warning the police in California of the possibility of Iranian drone attacks on the West Coast.

US President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed concerns about potential threats to California or the United States following reports of a memo by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that contained unverified information about a potential Iranian drone attack on the state.

ABC News had earlier reported that the FBI warned the police departments in California of the possibility of Iran retaliating to American attacks by launching drones on the West Coast. However, the White House has since clarified that the notice was based on an unverified tip.

ALSO READ: FBI Warns Of Iran ‘Surprise Attack’ Plot Targeting California Using Drones: Report

“I don’t worry about it, because if you did, you wouldn’t be able to function. OK, so you can’t worry. You have to do something, and we watch everything at a level that it’s never been watched; our country has never been watched over like this," Trump said on Fox News Radio.

When asked about receiving the FBI memo, Trump mocked California Governor Gavin Newsom by saying, “First we heard about it was from Gavin Newscum." Meanwhile, Newsom said on Wednesday that “no imminent threat" exists.

What Was FBI’s Warning?

Earlier, the ABC report quoted the FBI alert at the end of February as saying, “We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran."

ABC News quoted John Cohen, the former head of intelligence for the Department of Homeland Security, saying that he is concerned about the possibility of drone warfare coming from both the Pacific and Mexico. “We know Iran has an extensive presence in Mexico and South America, they have relationships, they have the drones and now they have the incentive to conduct attacks," Cohen said.

However, the White House immediately denied any threat from Iran, adding that the report was based on the alert that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip.

“This post and story should be immediately retracted by ABC News for providing false information to intentionally alarm the American people. They wrote this based on one email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip. The email even states the tip was based on *unverified* intelligence. Yet ABC News left out this critical fact in their story! WHY?" said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

ABC News later updated the story after the FBI posted a fuller version of its alert, which included that the information was unverified.

The United States and Israel launched a joint large-scale military offensive against Iran on February 28, killing Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The operation was referred to as “Operation Roaring Lion" by Israel and “Operation Epic Fury".

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