On Wednesday in New York, jurors heard opening statements in the federal trial of Asif Merchant, a Pakistani man accused by prosecutors of attempting to orchestrate the killing of a U.S. politician, possibly President Donald Trump, during the 2024 campaign. Merchant, 47, pleaded not guilty to attempted terrorism and other federal charges, setting up a case that prosecutors presented as an unfolding plan stopped through law enforcement surveillance and undercover activity.
Prosecutors said Merchant met with and paid $5,000 to supposed hit men who were actually undercover FBI agents. They told the jury that Merchant had not yet given a name for a specific target before he was arrested, but that his efforts were directed at harming someone he described as hurting Pakistan and the Muslim world, according to the prosecution’s opening statement by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nina Gupta.
Federal prosecutors also described how the plot allegedly evolved before Merchant ever met anyone he believed could carry out a killing. Using materials presented in court, they said Merchant roughed out in June 2024 a scenario involving a shooting at a political rally and then staging a protest as a distraction so the killer could get away, according to testimony described in the opening phase of the trial.
A key element of the government’s account came through testimony from Nadeem Ali, described in court as an intermediary. Ali told the anonymous jury in Brooklyn federal court that he was “shocked” after Merchant approached him and asked him to line up hit men, prosecutors said. In the government’s presentation, Ali also testified that he recorded conversations with Merchant for the FBI after he contacted the bureau in May 2024.
According to prosecutors, Merchant approached Ali through a mutual friend and discussed involving him in a T-shirt business. Ali testified that he found the shifting terms “shady” and said he became concerned after he noticed cars following him following time spent with Merchant; he then contacted the FBI and began recording interactions, with prosecutors playing recordings in court Wednesday.
Prosecutors also pointed to additional investigative material, including court filings that they said showed searches for Trump rally locations on Merchant’s laptop. Prosecutors said in their materials that the government has not publicly disclosed how many other potential targets Merchant allegedly considered, and they framed the case around what authorities said Merchant tried to arrange rather than any completed violence.
Merchant’s defense, in its opening statement, sought to challenge the government’s narrative and emphasize his background in the United States. Defense lawyer Christopher Neff said Merchant was in the U.S. as a visitor and portrayed him as deeply religious and as a dedicated father who openly has two families, one in Pakistan and one in Iran. Neff also told jurors to think beyond the prosecution’s storyline, arguing that they should consider the rest of the story told by the evidence.
The trial also comes amid attention to broader security concerns facing the former president. Prosecutors said the purported plot was hatched weeks before an unrelated July 13, 2024, attempt to assassinate Trump on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, and that officials later said they were tracking a threat to Trump’s life from Iran; they said Tehran called the earlier threat allegation “unsubstantiated and malicious.” The government, in this trial’s framing, did not present a link between Merchant and the Butler shooter, who was killed by a Secret Service sniper.
During the opening phase, the defense highlighted a dispute that has emerged in similar cases: whether law enforcement’s use of undercover sting operations can amount to entrapment. The prosecution described its agents as posing as terror supporters and offering guidance or equipment, while critics of the strategy say it can cross the line into entrapment. The jury will weigh that debate as it evaluates the evidence presented in court.