‘I hope you’ll miss me’: Trump’s unusual take on Iran death threats
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken about Iran’s threats to kill him, at times treating the danger as a sign of his importance.
Trump has said he is “on every list” and described himself as “maybe the most consequential president” while discussing the threats.
His comments come as the Secret Service reviews roughly 10,000 threat cases, its highest volume in agency history.
Trump frames threats as proof of significance
In a New York Post interview last month, Trump discussed what he had ordered in case Iran killed him, then said, “I've been No. 1 for a long time, and it's the way life is, you know. I hope you'll miss me.”
He has returned to the possibility of his own death repeatedly.
After Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli operation on Feb 28, Trump told ABC News, “I got him before he got me. They tried twice. Well, I got him first.”
At another appearance alongside NATO chief Mark Rutte in Ankara, Trump said, “They want to take out the US leader — me. I'm on every list.”
He added that he had been “a little bit lucky,” while acknowledging that “that maybe doesn't last very long.”
Trump returned to the subject again this week, explicitly connecting the threats to his standing as president.
“Any consequential president has a lot of threats,” he said. “I think that I'm maybe the most consequential president.”
Threats have changed Trump’s security
The comments come against a threat environment that Secret Service officials describe as unusually severe.
A senior agency official said last month that the agency was reviewing roughly 10,000 threat cases, a 40 percent increase from the prior year and the highest volume in its history.
Two law enforcement sources said that surge has prompted the agency to install anti-aircraft and anti-drone defenses at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, and West Palm Beach, Florida, properties.
Those protections were absent during his first term.
The security measures provide a factual backdrop to Trump’s repeated public discussion of the threats.
MS NOW reported that he has become “obsessed” with the possibility that Iran could assassinate him.
The report said Trump discusses the possibility in public and private as “a simple fact of life, a warning to potential perpetrators and even a point of pride for the world’s most powerful leader.”
Iran’s threats have followed Trump
The hostility from Iran described in the report predates Trump’s current presidency. The outlet traces it to the 2020 drone strike that killed IRGC general Qassem Soleimani.
Prosecutors have since brought retaliation-linked cases, including a 2022 plot against former security adviser John Bolton and a 2024 scheme allegedly targeting Trump and dissident Masih Alinejad.
The report also described an episode during Trump’s trip to Turkey in which he quietly ducked into a catering truck before flying to London on a smaller aircraft after intelligence suggested Iran might strike Air Force One.
MS NOW said the episode reflected the seriousness of the threat while also reporting that Trump continues to talk about being targeted as a measure of his significance.
