While downplaying reports of a new Iranian assassination plot targeting him, President Donald Trump told an interviewer Friday he has "left instructions" if Tehran were to succeed in eliminating him.
"I've been on their list for a long time," Trump told the New York Post. "The only thing is, I've left instructions — if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they've never seen before."
The president's comments mirrored what he said in February 2025, when he told reporters that he had given advisers instructions to obliterate Iran if its leaders assassinate him.
Trump on Friday dismissed reports that Israel recently uncovered a fresh Iranian plot to kill him, saying Tehran has wanted him dead ever since he ordered the 2020 strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
"No, no. Israel came up with nothing," Trump told the Post. "I've been No. 1 [on Iran's kill list] for a long time, and it's the way life is."
The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported Israel shared intelligence with U.S. officials suggesting Iran had developed a new assassination plan targeting the president.
Neither Israeli nor Iranian officials publicly confirmed the report.
The threat against Trump has remained a central concern for U.S. intelligence and the Secret Service for years.
The Justice Department announced in late 2024 that it had disrupted an alleged Iranian murder-for-hire plot targeting Trump before the presidential election, while federal officials have repeatedly cited Tehran's desire to avenge Soleimani's death.
Trump also addressed the issue earlier this week during the NATO summit in Turkey, saying, "They want to take out the U.S. leader — me. I'm on every list."
Trump joked he would rather be "No. 1 on TikTok" than "No. 1 on the list for killing," before adding that Iran's leaders are "evil, sick people" and warning they must be confronted before their threats grow worse.
The White House also acknowledged that security concerns factored into Trump's travel arrangements after the summit.
Trump departed Turkey aboard the older Air Force One rather than the newly retrofitted presidential aircraft, with communications director Steven Cheung saying the administration uses "every tool at our disposal — including distraction and misdirection" to counter threats against the president.
Despite the ongoing danger, Trump indicated Friday that diplomatic contacts with Tehran would continue.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue 'talks,'" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!"
Trump has simultaneously restored maximum pressure sanctions on Iran following renewed military clashes this week while maintaining that the United States remains prepared to negotiate a broader peace agreement if Tehran abandons its hostile actions.