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By Sam Howard
What’s happening: An audacious but unrealized plan by Russia to stage an assassination attempt on Hungary’s pro-Russia prime minister to generate sympathy for him has had surprising fallout in the U.S.: It resurrected claims that the July 2024 assassination attempt on U.S. President Donald Trump was also a hoax.
Context: On March 21, 2026, The Washington Post reported exclusively that Russian intelligence officers proposed staging an assassination attempt on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to boost his chances in Hungary’s April 12, 2026, parliamentary election.
The report was based on what the Post said was an internal Russian intelligence report that was “obtained and authenticated by a European intelligence service.” It also reported that the plan, which the Kremlin told the Post was “disinformation,” was never carried out.
A closer look: Anti-Trump social media users quickly jumped on the Post report to resurface baseless claims that a July 2024 attempt on Trump’s life — in which a sniper at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, shot Trump, grazing his right ear — was staged to generate sympathy and help Trump take back the White House.
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