‘I’ve left instructions’: Wild US plan if Donald Trump is assassinated

Amid the storm of backlash over his Gaza comments, Donald Trump has now reignited tensions with another Middle Eastern superpower.

Love or loathe him, we can all agree US President Donald Trump has had a big day at the office and probably needs a nap.

The polarising leader attracted a wave of criticism from around the globe for his comments on “taking over” Gaza to rebuild it in the search for a much-needed period of peace for Palestinians.

While those comments could be construed coming from a place of compassion and a real desire to limit war, Trump also spent some of his Tuesday afternoon fanning the flames of conflict with a close neighbour.

Iran is at a crossroads in its historically rocky relationship with the US and has not shied away from opposing the Republican, who has vowed to place “maximum pressure” on Tehran to restrict it from owning nuclear weapons.

US President Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

There’s also the small issue of allegedly state-funded assassination attempts on his plate.

In November, moments before millions went to the polls, the US Justice Department charged an Iranian man in an alleged murder-for-hire effort to kill the Republican candidate.

According to the criminal complaint, an official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a military and counterintelligence agency designated as a terrorist organisation by Trump in his first term, told the man to focus on surveilling and assassinating Trump during his Presidential campaign.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian then claimed his country has “never” plotted to assassinate Trump.

Nevertheless, the commander-in-chief on Tuesday warned Iran’s ruling elite that if the country were to assassinate him, it would be crushed under the might of the US military.

As with most of Trump’s bold declarations, details were a little scarce. But we can only assume it would mean the beginning of a broader global conflict.

Ali Khamenei is the Supreme Leader of Iran. Picture: AFP

He says this directive is part of the detailed instructions he’s left his inner-circle if the worst transpires.

“If they did that they would be obliterated,” Trump said of the hypothetical hit.

“I’ve left instructions if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left.”

Were he to be assassinated, Vice President JD Vance would assume the presidency and could choose to disregard his predecessor’s instructions.

US authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against the president and other key administration officials for years.

This came to a head with the 2020 killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, orchestrated by Trump himself, a move that escalated tensions between the two nations.

On the heels of his latest remarks, crucial questions surrounding Trump’s security have resurfaced. He narrowly cheated death at a campaign rally last year, with a bullet grazing his cheek in a one-in-a-million moment of chance.

While that shot was fired by a US citizen, officials are equally wary about threats coming from offshore groups.

Trump on ‘cherished alliance’ with Israel

Donald Trump addressed America’s “cherished alliance” with Israel, a noted adversary of Iran’s, during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.

Addressing reporters at the White House, Trump said the US and the Israeli alliance has been “tested more than any time in history” over the past four years.

“But the bonds of friendship and affection between the American and Israeli people have endured for generations and they are absolutely unbreakable, they are unbreakable,” he said.

“I’m confident that under our leadership, the cherished alliance between our two countries will soon be stronger than ever.”

Originally published as ‘I’ve left instructions’: Wild US plan if Donald Trump is assassinated