White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt labeled ABC News’ Wednesday report about Iran planning a drone strike against the West Coast “false information to intentionally alarm the American people.”
According to an alert reviewed by ABC News, the FBI warned law enforcement agencies across California that Iran allegedly considered retaliating against the U.S. by launching offensive drones against the West Coast.
This came on the 12th day of the U.S. military campaign against Iran, which counterattacked against American facilities in the region.
“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 States Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran,” the alert distributed at the end of last month said, according to ABC News. “We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack.”
The alert, reposted on social media by Ms. Leavitt, was labeled as “sensitive” and “not for dissemination to the public or press.”
Ms. Leavitt said Thursday on X that ABC News should immediately retract the story “for providing false information to intentionally alarm the American people.”
She added, “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?”
The notice said the potential strike was contingent on the U.S. carrying out military action against Iran, which started Feb. 28.
Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday that the alert, which allegedly originated from intelligence received by the U.S. Coast Guard, was not considered credible.
ABC News contributor John Cohen, the former head of intelligence for the Department of Homeland Security, said he’s concerned about the possibility of drone warfare, given Iran’s relationships in Latin America.
“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,” Mr. Cohen said on ABC. “The FBI is smart for putting this warning out so that state and locals can be better able to prepare and respond to these types of threats.”
Ms. Leavitt countered, “No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did.”
