Donald Trump mused about his mortality on Wednesday, telling world leaders at a NATO summit in Turkey that Iran could seek to assassinate him as a form of revenge. "They [Iran] want to take out the US leader - me. I'm on every list," Trump stated.
He continued, "I'm on every single one of their lists, and so far I guess I've been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn't last very long, because that's the way it goes." The president's remarks came amid reports of hardline lawmakers in Tehran openly calling for missiles to be fired at his location during the summit. Earlier in the week, mourners at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral placed a bounty on Trump's head.
During a press conference with officials including Marco Rubio, Trump discussed Iran's leadership, which assumed power after Khamenei's death in the war. "They're gone now. They have another set of leaders. They may be gone," he said. "Who knows? And you know what, I may be gone too because I'm their number one target. It's out all over the place. I'm the number one, because they're scum."
Trump's comments follow his declaration that a ceasefire with Iran was "over" and subsequent strikes on the regime in response to Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Evidence of threats against Trump emerged during Khamenei's funeral on Monday, where footage from Tehran showed pro-regime demonstrators holding posters with red crosshairs over Trump's face, bearing the warning: "Sooner or later, your heads will roll." Other posters displayed faces of JD Vance and Pete Hegseth over a crosshair with the phrase: "There will be blood." Chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" were heard, and US and British flags were seen being burned. An effigy of Trump hanging was also pictured near the funeral procession.
The desire to eliminate Trump has roots in his first term, particularly following the 2020 drone strike that killed Revolutionary Guard general Qasem Soleimani. US intelligence had previously warned during Trump's 2024 campaign that Iran was plotting to assassinate him and former officials from his first term as retribution for Soleimani's death. Federal prosecutors also charged a Revolutionary Guard operative with attempting to arrange the murder of Trump's former national security advisor John Bolton on U.S. soil.
Trump's former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Iran envoy Brian Hook reportedly required constant government protection. The president's comments on his mortality come shortly before the second anniversary of an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, that narrowly missed him. A report from the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general found that the Secret Service had missed 102 radio calls flagging the gunman, Thomas Crooks, who was positioned on a nearby roof with a long gun, and failed to warn agents to remove Trump from the stage. The assailant was killed at the scene in July 2024.
