Tipsheet

Here's What Trump Had to Say About Those Iranian Sleeper Cells

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  March 12, 2026 10:30 AM

President Trump revealed during a press conference at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland that the U.S. government knows the locations of suspected Iranian sleeper cell operatives and is closely monitoring them as Operation Epic Fury unfolds in the Middle East.

"Have you been briefed about how many Iran sleeper cells there could be inside the U.S. right now?" a reporter asked Wednesday.

"I have been," the president said. "And a lot of people came in through Biden with his stupid open border. But we know where most of them are. We've got our eye on all of them, I think. They came in through the open border policies of sleepy Joe Biden, one of the worst, the worst president in the history of our country. And we've got our eyes on all of them. But the war itself is being prosecuted at a level that nobody's seen before. It's pretty amazing to watch."

This comes after the United States intercepted an encrypted message originating from the Iranian government that was allegedly intended to activate sleeper cells across the Western world. Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, two terror incidents have occurred: a mass shooting in Austin, Texas, carried out by a man wearing a “Property of Allah” sweatshirt, and an incident over the weekend in New York City, where an 18-year-old who had pledged allegiance to ISIS was arrested after throwing an improvised explosive device at a crowd of protesters.

It is unclear if either attack is directly connected to the Iranian government.

This also comes as the FBI has warned California law enforcement that Iran could attempt to launch attack drones toward the West Coast in retaliation for U.S. military operations in Iran.