President Joe Biden has issued a grave warning to Iran, making it clear that any attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump would be considered an act of war.
The warning, reportedly delivered by Biden’s National Security Council, reflects growing concerns within the administration regarding Iran’s efforts to retaliate for the 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
Since the drone strike, Iran has made several threats, particularly targeting former President Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and other officials involved in the decision to kill Soleimani.
The Trump team, concerned over multiple assassination attempts, has requested increased security measures, including military aircraft and armored vehicles.
Trump has already survived two assassination attempts in recent months, including one at a rally in July and another at his Florida golf course in September.
Though authorities have not verified any links between these attempts and Iran, Trump has suggested that they may be related to Iran’s desire for revenge.
The Biden administration has allocated $150 million annually to protect high-profile officials, including Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Biden responded to Trump’s request for heightened security by ensuring that the former president receives every necessary resource to address the evolving threats.
The National Security Council explained that this issue is the highest priority for national and homeland security.
“We have ensured that appropriate agencies are continuously and promptly providing the former president’s security detail with evolving threat information,” National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savitt said in a statement. He added that President Biden has directed the Secret Service to receive every resource required to protect Trump from any potential attacks.
When asked if he would be willing to provide military aircraft to Trump for his campaign travels, Biden humorously responded that he would agree, “as long as he doesn’t ask for F-15s.”
Despite the tension between the two, Biden stressed that Trump would be treated with the same level of security as a sitting president due to the nature of the threats.
Iran has been open about its desire for revenge. In 2022, the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, circulated a video depicting a drone attack on Trump at his golf course, which recently resurfaced online.
The U.S. Department of Justice has also charged an Iranian Revolutionary Guard member with attempting to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton.
Additionally, undercover FBI agents recently arrested a Pakistani man plotting to hire hit men to assassinate a U.S. politician, with unsealed documents pointing to further Iranian involvement.
Though Vice President Kamala Harris has called Iran the “greatest adversary” of the United States, she has not made public statements directly rebuking Iran for its plots against Trump.
Some observers see Biden’s warning as an effort to show a stronger stance against Iran than Harris has publicly taken.
Meanwhile, Trump has been vocal about his expectations for how the U.S. should handle the threats from Iran. He has repeatedly urged Biden to be more aggressive in dealing with Iran’s threats, stating that Iran should be told it would be “blown to smithereens” if it harmed any U.S. politician.
“If I were the president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case Iran, that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens,” Trump said at a recent rally.
The evolving situation between the U.S. and Iran remains one of the most pressing national security issues as Trump continues his campaign for re-election.