Reports suggest that President Biden has indeed directed his National Security Council to unequivocally impress upon Iran that any attempt to harm former President Trump would be tantamount to an act of war. Such a severe cautionary note surfaces at a time when the Trump team has reportedly been apprised of specific threats to Trump’s safety, leading them to an unusual ask for air military support nearing the end of the campaign.
It is observed that the United States has stepped up, taking unparalleled measures to ensure the safety of the former president in light of potential retaliatory actions from Iran following the 2020 termination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Protective activities encompassing high-ranking personnel, including ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, former leader of U.S. Central Command, are said to cost around $150 million annually, as per Politico.
Recently, the Trump campaign made an intriguing request for military aircraft with missile interception capabilities to transport the former president in the weeks before the election. The White House, upon enquiry by Fox News Digital last month, refrained from confirming if Biden believed that an assault on Trump would warrant an interpretation of an act of war. However, an assurance was given regarding briefing the Trump team about the Iran threat landscape.
National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savitt asserted the critical national and homeland security dimension of the situation and vehemently denounced Iran for its audacious threats. He reaffirmed that Iran’s intent for retaliation against Trump for Soleimani’s death had long been a matter of concern. He emphasized that pertinent departments are perpetually and promptly accomplishing their duty of briefing the ex-president’s security detail on the progressively changing threats.
Moreover, Savitt mentioned President Biden’s reiteration of his command to provide the United States Secret Service with all the resources, capabilities and security measures they need to tackle the emerging perils directed towards the former president. Threats are not confined to Trump alone but also encapsulate high-ranking officials involved in the 2020 strike, who have been at the receiving end of death threats from Iran.
Iran is also reported to have infiltrated Trump’s campaign system and endeavored to distribute the gathered data to democrats and the media. Trump himself suggested a dire response: he implored Biden to let Iran know that any harm inflicted on a U.S. political figure would lead to devastating repercussions for the Middle Eastern country.
Trump fervently declared that if he were president, he would send Iran a clear-cut warning: any harm afflicted on a certain individual would result in the utter destruction of Iran’s major cities and the country as a whole. President Biden, meanwhile, apparently cautioned Iran that any attempts on Trump’s life would trigger a state of war.
Trump managed to weather an attempt on his life during a rally in July and was also the target of another foiled assassination plot on his golf course in Florida in September. Unconfirmed assumptions by Trump suggest a potential involvement of Iran in these plots.
Beyond just requesting a military airplane, the Trump campaign also sought armored vehicles typically assigned to incumbent presidents, heightened flight restrictions over his rally locations and residences, refunds for decoy aircraft deployment, and bolstered funding for the Secret Service and local law enforcement agencies to ensure his protection.
Earlier this week, Biden dared to extend his support to Trump’s campaign by offering military aircraft, as long as the request didn’t extend to F-15s. He stated, ‘Look, what I’ve told the department is to give him every single thing he needs for his protection, as if he were a sitting president. If it fulfills that criterion, that’s acceptable.’
Iran’s intentions to target Trump have not been hidden or ambiguous. Back in 2022, Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, released an animated clip of a drone targeting Trump at his golf course. Interestingly, that video has recently made its reappearance on the internet.
In an eye-opening incident in June, undercover FBI agents were reported to have liaised with a Pakistani man, Asif Merchant, who was endeavoring to hire assassins to target a U.S. politician. The information unravelled from documents opened in August, leading to Merchant’s arrest on July 12, on the eve of Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Furthermore, in 2022, a representative of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps was charged by the Justice Department on account of an alleged attempt to assassinate former national security advisor, John Bolton, only adding to the portfolio of threats that former officials face.