As President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ramp up pressure on Iran, he said Iran would face an even greater threat if he is killed.
Ever since Trump approved the 2020 killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, Iran has spewed threats about assassinating Trump.
Concerns for a potential Iranian assassination attempt spiked in July, with federal officials later announcing in the fall that they had blocked an Iran-backed plot to kill Trump.
During a signing ceremony for the new executive order, Trump was asked about threats against him.
“That would be a terrible thing for them to do; not because of me,” Trump said, according to a video posted to X.
“If they did that they would be obliterated; that would be the end,” Trump said
“I’ve left instructions if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left. And they shouldn’t be able to do it. And Biden should have said that, but he never did, I don’t know why — lack of intelligence, perhaps, but he never said it.”
BREAKING: President Donald Trump says he has left instructions to “obliterate Iran” in the event he is assassinated by them.
“If they do it, they get obliterated. There won’t be anything left” pic.twitter.com/xgR4rncZdA
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) February 4, 2025
“If that happened to a leader, or close to a leader … you had other people involved, you would call for total obliteration of a state that did it; that would include Iran,” Trump said.
Do you know of any other president who’s left detailed instructions like this in case of this assassination?
Trump aide Will Scharf said the new order “seeks to impose maximum pressure” on Iran, according to USA Today,
“The basic idea here is to have every department and agency or many departments and agencies in your government attempt to sanction and control Iranian activities, particularly relating to the Iranian nuclear program and the Iranian export of terrorism through support of various proxy groups abroad,” Scharf said.
“They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, adding: “We’d be very tough if they insist on doing that.”
Trump said his preference would be to “work out a deal with Iran and everybody can live together.”
“So this is one I’m torn about. Everyone wants me to sign it. I’ll do that,” he said before signing, according to The New York Times, adding that he was“unhappy to do it.”
“We have to be strong and firm and I hope that it’s not going to have to be used in any great measure at all,” he said.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has called for harsh measures against Iran, according to Fox News.
“Israel is strong. Iran is weak. Hezbollah, Hamas have been decimated,” Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“They’re not finished off, but they’ve been weakened. And there’s an opportunity to hit the Iran nuclear program in a fashion I haven’t seen in decades. And I think it would be in the world’s interest for us to decimate the Iranian nuclear threat while we can. If we don’t, we will regret it later,” he said.
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