President Donald Trump has declared that he has left standing instructions for the U.S. military to unleash overwhelming force against Iran if the regime ever succeeds in carrying out its long-standing threats to assassinate him. While the president’s warning underscores the seriousness with which he views the threat, constitutional procedures mean that any military response following a president’s death would ultimately rest with his successor.

Under the Constitution and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, Vice President JD Vance would immediately assume the presidency and become commander in chief if Trump were killed. That would give Vance the authority to carry out the type of military response Trump has called for, alter those plans, or pursue a different course of action altogether.

Although Trump suggested he has standing orders in place, experts note that the United States has never employed an automatic or pre-authorized military retaliation mechanism triggered by a president’s death.

“The U.S. has, for a whole variety of reasons, never utilized a technical ‘dead man’s switch,'” said Garrett M. Graff, author of Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself — While the Rest of Us Die.

The United States maintains extensive continuity-of-government plans designed to preserve national leadership during a nuclear attack or other catastrophic event. Those procedures, however, do not authorize the military to launch retaliatory strikes automatically upon the death of a president, even if prior instructions had been issued.

Trump reiterated his warning Saturday in a Truth Social post, saying Iran had repeatedly threatened his life and that the U.S. military stood ready to respond with overwhelming force.

He wrote that 1,000 “missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat.”

Hours later, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, renewed calls to avenge the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the opening U.S. and Israeli strikes earlier this year.

Retaliation, he declared, “is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out.”

In a televised address, Mojtaba Khamenei added, “We pledge to take revenge for the pure blood of you and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraceful killers. This revenge is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out.”

The White House did not immediately respond to questions regarding how Trump’s standing military directives would be handled if the president were assassinated.

During funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this week, crowds repeatedly displayed banners and signs calling for the deaths of both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Israel recently warned U.S. officials about new Iranian efforts to assassinate Trump. Although the White House declined to comment, Trump appeared to reference those threats during this week’s NATO summit in Turkey.

“They want to take out the U.S. leader — me.”

Sabrina Singh, who served as deputy Pentagon press secretary during the Biden administration, said the threat posed by Iran against senior American officials is well understood within the national security community.

“Iran wanting to target senior American leaders is something that we know is happening.”

“You have to take these as credible threats,” Singh said.

Trump also survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 presidential campaign and, earlier this year, a gunman breached security at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner while the president was attending the event.

Security surrounding the president has drawn renewed attention after Trump traveled part of the way back from Turkey aboard an older Air Force One aircraft rather than the newer Boeing 747 donated by Qatar. Reports indicated the refurbished aircraft lacks some of the missile-detection and defensive countermeasure systems installed on previous presidential jets.

The aircraft change came as fighting between the United States and Iran resumed, placing renewed strain on last month’s agreement intended to halt the conflict.

Asked about Iran’s threats while aboard Air Force One, Trump replied, “I’m No. 1 on their list.”

Graff noted that throughout the Cold War, the United States developed elaborate contingency plans governing the transfer of nuclear launch authority in the event Washington was incapacitated, including maintaining airborne command posts that could preserve military command after a surprise attack.

“What I believe Trump is saying is that he’s left standing orders to attack if he’s killed, e.g., that the Pentagon should proceed with standard launch protocols,” Graff said. “There’s a lot of reason to doubt the legality of such standing orders, since in the event of a president’s death, the nuclear launch authority would immediately pass to the vice president or designated successor — and ultimately it would be up to him or her to determine whether to proceed.”

Graff also pointed out that Trump’s social media post referred only to conventional missile strikes against Iran and did not mention the use of nuclear weapons.

He added that Trump could instead privately instruct his successor how he would want the United States to respond.

Graff said Trump also might tell Vance, “something to Vance like, ‘If I’m killed, nuke Iran,'” adding that such an instruction would “more sense and would be absolutely legal”.

U.S. intelligence agencies have long monitored credible threats against American presidents and senior officials from Iran and other foreign adversaries, though such matters are typically handled through classified channels rather than discussed publicly. Trump’s decision to openly state that he is personally a target of Tehran is highly unusual.

This is also not the first time Washington has warned Iran against targeting Trump or other American officials.

In 2022, after the Justice Department accused a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of plotting to assassinate former National Security Adviser John Bolton, the Biden administration warned Tehran that any attack on Americans would trigger severe consequences.

At the time, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated, “should Iran attack any of our citizens, to include those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences.”

Two years later, during Trump’s presidential campaign against Democrat Kamala Harris, the Biden administration quietly delivered another warning to Iran, informing the regime that any attempt to assassinate Trump would be treated as an act of war.

{Matzav.com}