Donald Trump has revealed the consequences Iran would face if it were to assassinate him during his second term.
Since being sworn in as the 47th President on January 20, the 78-year-old has wasted no time making headlines.
From halting federal aid, ending birthright citizenship, and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, Trump’s return to the Oval Office has been anything but quiet.
On Tuesday (February 4), the controversial leader made his latest bold statement, sharing that a plan is already in place to “obliterate” Iran if it attempts to assassinate him.
The announcement follows the Justice Department’s previous claim that it had stopped an Iranian-backed murder-for-hire plot against Trump in November 2024.
According to the Associated Press, authorities were tipped off about the alleged assassination plan by 51-year-old Farhad Shakeri – who, per Sky News, remains at large in Iran.
A criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Manhattan claimed that Shakeri – an Afghan national who immigrated to the US as a child but was later deported after spending 14 years in prison for robbery – had received direct orders from a contact in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to execute the plan within seven days.
However, Shakeri allegedly told the FBI via recorded telephone interviews that he couldn’t pull off the assassination in that timeframe, leading to the plot being postponed until after the election.
Iranian officials have denied any involvement. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei dismissed the accusations and warned that such claims could “further complicate the issues between the US and Iran,” cited by BBC News.
Earlier this week, the president ramped up his pressure on the Middle Eastern country by signing a presidential memorandum.
Trump told reporters at the Oval Office that Iran was “too close” to obtaining a nuclear weapon. “With me, it’s very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he wrote in the memo.
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But despite the tensions, he disclosed that he was open to negotiating with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to avoid “a very catastrophic situation,” per Iran International.
However, the two-time leader didn’t hold back when asked about what would happen if Iran were to assassinate 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,” he declared. “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.”
Trump then fired at his predecessor, Joe Biden, claiming the former president never took a firm enough stance. “But he never did. I don’t know why. Lack of intelligence perhaps?” he suggested.
“If that happens to a leader or close to a leader… you would call for total obliteration of the state that did it,” he added.
If an attack on Trump were successful, Vice President JD Vance would be sworn in as president.
However, he would not be legally required to follow through on any pre-existing orders left by Trump, AP News reported.
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