Trump says he left instructions to bomb Iran 'at levels never seen before' if assassinated

Donald Trump has said he left explicit instructions for the US military to bomb Iran with a force 'never seen before' should the Iranian regime succeed in assassinating him. The comments, made in a telephone interview with the New York Post on Friday, follow reports that Israeli intelligence warned Washington this week about a new Iranian plot to kill the president.

The presidential instructions

Trump told the New York Post that the Iranian regime has intended to kill him for a long time. 'I have been on their list for a very long time. That is what we are dealing with,' he said. When asked about his response, Trump stated: 'I left instructions: if anything happens, literally bomb them at levels never seen before.' The president added that the same orders had been communicated to Vice President J.D. Vance.

I left instructions: if anything happens, literally bomb them at levels never seen before.

Israeli intelligence warning

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal and CNN reported, citing anonymous sources, that Israeli intelligence services had shared information with the United States about a new Iranian plan to assassinate Trump. One CNN source claimed the Israeli services confirmed a plan that had already been partially identified by US intelligence. A second source said the warning was delivered this week and concerned a 'specific plot.' Some American officials reportedly believe the Israeli alert may be an effort to influence Trump's decision-making on further military operations against Iran.

Trump, however, denied receiving any such warning. 'No, no. Israel did not present anything,' he told the New York Post. 'I have been number one for a very long time, and that is life.'

Security concerns at the NATO summit

The assassination threat surfaced amid heightened security measures during Trump's trip to the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. The president arrived on Monday night aboard the new Air Force One, a Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar, but departed in the older presidential aircraft on the advice of the US Secret Service. Sources told The New York Times that the new plane does not yet have all the protective systems installed on the older model. The US Air Force began upgrading the donated 747 last year, but it remains unclear how far the refit has progressed.

They want to eliminate the American leader, me. I am on some kind of list. I saw this morning that I am on every one of their lists.

A long-standing threat

Iran has openly threatened Trump since the January 2020 drone strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq during Trump's first term. During the funeral procession for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, killed on 28 February in the first day of the US-Israeli military operation 'Epic Fury,' mourners displayed banners reading 'We will kill Trump' and chanted slogans calling for his death. A cleric at one memorial ceremony this week said, according to Iranian press: 'Why would we not kill the one who killed my imam and leader? Killing Trump is our duty.'

Diplomatic rupture

This week, after Iran attacked three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and Tuesday, Trump cancelled the ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran and scrapped an early-stage memorandum of understanding. On Truth Social, the president wrote that Iran 'asked us to continue the talks. We agreed to do so, but the United States made clear to them, in no uncertain terms, that the ceasefire is over.' The White House did not deny the Israeli intelligence reports, referring instead to Trump's remarks in Ankara.

Belgian researcher Thomas Renard of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague told De Morgen that the threat against Trump is 'very real,' noting that Iran has shown over years that it can activate various networks to pursue its political goals.