Trump: ‘If Iran assassinates me, I hope America wipes it off the face of the Earth’

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump invokes the annihilation of US adversary Iran in a social media post reminiscent of his most incendiary outbursts while in the White House.

“If they do ‘assassinate President Trump,’ which is always a possibility, I hope that America obliterates Iran, wipes it off the face of the Earth — If that does not happen, American Leaders will be considered ‘gutless’ cowards!” he writes on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Trump makes the remarks alongside a brief video of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bringing up alleged Iranian plots against Trump in his address to Congress.

US media reported last week that the US Secret Service had increased security for Trump weeks ago after authorities learned of an Iranian plot to kill him, although it was not linked to the recent attempt on his life in which a 20-year-old American fired shots during a campaign rally. CNN reported that US authorities received intelligence from a “human source” on a plan by Tehran targeting the former president, causing protection to be boosted for Trump. Other US outlets also reported the plot.

Trump’s post recalls a controversial episode in 2019 when, as president, he threatened the “obliteration” of Iran if the country carried out an attack on “anything American.”