President Donald Trump revealed on Tuesday that he had a contingency plan in place and had “left instructions” with regard to how the United States should respond if Iran ever succeeds in assassinating him.
Trump made the comments just ahead of his widely-publicized visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he signed an executive order ramping up the pressure on Iran in an effort to prevent the nation from developing a nuclear weapon.
“It’s very tough on Iran. Hopefully we are not going to have to use it very much,” he said as he put pen to paper and signed the order. The goal of the order was to reimpose the sanctions against Iran — sanctions that were relaxed during President Joe Biden’s term in the White House — and effectively drive Iran’s oil exports down to near zero.
Trump explained, in response to a question from Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy, that he had already taken steps to prepare a response in the event that Iran attempted to retaliate against him personally.
WATCH:
BREAKING: President Trump says he's "left instructions" if Iran assassinates him
"That would be a terrible thing for them to do, not because of me. If they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I've left instructions."
"There wouldn't be anything left." pic.twitter.com/cXmYgew3mw
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 4, 2025
“Iran and their proxies have threatened to retaliate against you by killing you guys for taking out [Qasem] Soleimani,” Doocy said.
“Well, they haven’t done that,” Trump replied. “And that would be a terrible thing for them to do. Not because of me, because if they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I’ve left instructions — if they do it, they get obliterated. There won’t be anything left.”
Fears that Iran would take such steps are far from unfounded, as U.S. officials have already foiled at least one such plot — orchestrated by Iran — against the president’s life.
