FWIW this isn’t always true. A few months ago, I needed to add an email to my Zelle account on Chase, and had to call them. I initiated the call and they did issue a text message verification to the phone number in my account while on the phone to confirm.
I think generally anything that is considered an attempted <whatever>, the judicial system takes into account the intent of the person who is being accused. If the intent was to assassinate Trump, and the person had everything they needed to do it, and would have done it if they had not been stopped, then a real attempt was made.