Trump Says U.S. Military Ordered to Strike Iran if Assassination Attempted

President Donald Trump stated he has left standing orders for the U.S. military to destroy Iran at levels never seen before if Tehran attempts to assassinate him. Fortune reported that Trump posted on his social media website Saturday that Iran had made threats to assassinate him and that 1,000 missiles are locked and loaded and aimed at Iran, with thousands more to follow if the Iranian government acts.

Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said hours later on state television that Iranians would continue to avenge the killing of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died in initial U.S. and Israeli strikes that started the war in late February. Mojtaba Khamenei pledged that revenge for the martyrs of these two wars is the will of the nation and must be carried out.

Mourners at funeral events held throughout Iran this week repeatedly held posters or banners calling for the killing of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Israel alerted U.S. officials to fresh Iranian plots to kill Trump.

Trump referenced such threats during this week’s NATO summit in Turkey, saying they want to take out the U.S. leader—him. He told reporters aboard Air Force One that he is number one on their list. Trump flew part of the way back to Washington from Turkey this week aboard an older Air Force One jet rather than a new Qatari-gifted aircraft retrofitted at an estimated cost of $400 million.

The newer plane lacks some missile detection and countermeasure systems present on earlier versions. The swap occurred as the U.S. and Iran once again began trading strikes, jeopardizing last month’s initial deal to end the war.

Trump was targeted in two domestic assassination attempts during the 2024 presidential campaign, and a gunman stormed the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner he attended in April. S.