Speaking to reporters inside the Oval Office Tuesday afternoon, President Donald Trump issued a warning to Iran should the regime and its proxies attempt to assassinate him.
“It would be called total obliteration. And I can't imagine they do it…it should have been stated by Biden, but he didn't state it because he had no clue,” Trump said.
The comments came shortly after Trump signed an executive order reinstating a maximum pressure campaign against the largest state sponsor of terror, similar to actions taken during his first term.
“This is one that I'm torn about,” Trump said. “Everybody wants me to sign it. I'll do that. It's very tough on Iran.”
“So I'm signing this, and I'm unhappy to do it, but I really have not so much choice, because we have to be strong and firm and I hope that it's not going to have to be used in any great measure at all,” he continued.
The order sanctions Iranian oil exports, defunds the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (whose workers participated in the October 7 massacre), starves Iran’s terror proxies and much more. The order also withdraws the United States from the Human Rights Council at the UN.
Trump called on Iran to put away their nuclear ambitions for the sake of peace, but had doubts about their willingness to do so.
“It'd be great if we could have a Middle East and maybe a world at total peace,” Trump said in reference to making a deal. “I mean, we're going to see they cannot have a nuclear weapon with me. It's very simple. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
The move and remarks came just moments before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House for a series of meetings and a joint press conference with Trump.
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