US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had directed the United States to launch an overwhelming military response against Iran if Tehran were ever to succeed in assassinating him.
In an interview with The New York Post, Trump claimed Iran had been targeting him for years.
“I’ve been on their list for a long time. That’s what we’re dealing with," he said.
“I’ve left instructions — if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they’ve never seen before," he added.
Trump also rejected reports suggesting Israel had provided intelligence about a fresh Iranian assassination plot against him. Asked about those claims, he responded, “No, no. Israel came up with nothing," he told The Post.
His remarks come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, with recent exchanges of attacks fuelling concerns of a return to full-scale conflict. In recent days, Iran has targeted commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States has responded with retaliatory strikes. Tehran has also launched drones and missiles at US assets across the Middle East.
The comments followed media reports claiming Israel had shared intelligence with US authorities about a new and specific Iranian plan to assassinate Trump.
According to CNN, US officials have been monitoring potential threats against Trump for some time, but the latest intelligence from Israel pointed to what was described as a fresh and more specific assassination plot. The Wall Street Journal also reported that the intelligence referred to a new plan to kill the US president.
Iran has repeatedly vowed to avenge the US drone strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020 during Trump's first term in office.
