Trump Warns Iran of ‘Total Obliteration’ if They Try To Harm Him
President Donald Trump warned Iran that continued assassination threats made by leaders in Tehran would be met with the country getting “blown up” and “total obliteration.”
“Well, they shouldn’t be doing it but I’ve left notification,” Trump said. “Anything ever happens, we’re going to blow the whole — the whole country’s going to get blown up.”
Biden-era Intelligence officials briefed Trump about the alleged threats against him during his presidential campaign in 2024. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland said the plot was retaliation for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. in 2020, during Trump’s first administration.
Despite being briefed by his administration, Trump on Tuesday said President Biden “should have said something” on the matter, adding that presidents should defend each other on such matters.
“But I have very firm instructions,” Trump continued. “Anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth.”
Trump also spoke about the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran in Geneva.
“What are you expecting from these Iran talks in Geneva?” a reporter asked Trump aboard Air Force One.
“So, I’ll be involved in those talks indirectly, and they’ll be very important. We’ll see what can happen. Typically, Iran’s a very tough negotiator; they’re good negotiators — or bad negotiators. I would say they’re bad negotiators because we could have had a deal instead of sending the B2s to knock out their nuclear potential. We had to send the B2s. I hope they’re going to be more reasonable. They want to make a deal,” Trump said.
“Have you been told that a deal is next to impossible?” the reporter followed up.
Trump replied, “No. I think they want to make a deal. I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal. They want to make a deal.”
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Trump previously said that he instructed officials to destroy Iran if they killed him.
The president said this after signing an executive order right after taking office that gave him all the tools he needed to talk to Iran’s government and put as much pressure on Tehran as possible.
“They haven’t done that and that would be a terrible thing for them to do,” Trump said at the time. “Not because of me — if they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I’ve left instructions, if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left. And, they shouldn’t be able to do it.”
Trump warned last week that the United States could send additional warships toward Iran if ongoing diplomatic negotiations fail to produce a deal, signaling that military pressure could increase as talks over Tehran’s nuclear program stall.
In remarks to Axios, Trump said the administration is considering deploying a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region in addition to the USS Abraham Lincoln and 9 additional warships already positioned near Iran, though he expressed hope that a diplomatic agreement can still be reached.
“Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” the president told Axios on Tuesday, a reference to the bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites in June.
“Last time they didn’t believe I would do it. They overplayed their hand,” Trump added. “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going.”
The president emphasized that the United States is seeking to persuade Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions, halt the development of its ballistic missile program, and end support for militant proxy groups. Iranian officials have so far resisted expanding negotiations beyond nuclear-related issues.
He described the nuclear issue as a “matter of course” part of any negotiation, but also insisted that an agreement with Iran must also address Tehran’s ballistic missile stockpiles, per Axios.
Trump said the US “can make a great deal with Iran,” and Tehran “very much wants to make a deal.”
Trump’s comments came ahead of a planned visit to Washington, D.C. by Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to press for a tougher U.S. stance and broader terms for any Iran deal that would include constraints on Tehran’s missile capabilities and regional activities.
Before heading to DC, the Israeli leader previewed some of what he and Trump were going to discuss.
“I will present to the president our understanding of the principles of the negotiations (with Iran) – the essential principles that are important not only to Israel – but to everyone who wants peace and security in the Middle East,” Netanyahu told reporters, per the New York Post.
The administration has already bolstered its military presence in the Middle East, with multiple warships and aircraft deployed as a means of deterrence and leverage.
The baby stopped crying the second the maid held him… and the father noticed something that changed everything.
It felt like a confession.
For nearly an hour, the sound of the baby’s crying had filled every corner of the Whitmore mansion. It had echoed against the marble floor, bounced off the high ceilings, and followed Daniel Whitmore from room to room like a punishment he could not outrun.
His six-month-old son had been screaming until his tiny body shook.
No bottle had helped.
No blanket had helped.
No rocking, no white noise, no song from the expensive nursery machine imported from Germany had made the slightest difference.
Daniel had held his son awkwardly against his chest, whispering, pleading, pacing across the foyer in his loosened tie and wrinkled dress shirt.
“Come on, Noah,” he had murmured, his voice cracking from exhaustion. “Please, buddy. Please.”
But the child only cried harder.
Then Elena had appeared.
The maid.
She had come from the service hallway with fear in her eyes, as though the sound of the baby’s crying had stabbed straight through her.
She was not supposed to interfere. Daniel’s wife, Vanessa, had made that very clear to every member of the household staff.
The maids cleaned.
The cook prepared meals.
The driver waited outside.
No one touched the baby unless Vanessa allowed it.
But Vanessa was not home.
She had left for a charity dinner three hours earlier, dressed in silver silk and diamonds, telling Daniel with a bored wave of her hand that “babies cry, Daniel, it’s what they do.”
And now Elena stood before him, trembling.
“Mr. Whitmore,” she whispered. “Please. Let me try.”
Daniel stared at her.
The baby’s face was red, his fists clenched, his cries so sharp they sounded painful.
Elena stretched out her arms.
“Please,” she said again, and this time there were tears in her voice.
Daniel did not know why he handed Noah to her.
Maybe because he was desperate.
Maybe because something in Elena’s eyes did not look like a servant asking permission.
It looked like a mother begging for her child.
The moment Noah entered her arms, the screaming stopped.
Not slowly.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
The mansion fell silent.
Daniel’s breath caught.
Noah’s tiny body, stiff from crying only seconds earlier, softened against Elena’s chest. His head turned toward her. His wide, glassy eyes locked onto her face.
Then he made a small, broken sound.
Not a cry.
A sigh.
As if he had been searching for her.
As if he had finally come home.
Daniel felt the hair on his arms rise.
Elena closed her eyes as if something inside her had shattered. Tears slipped down her cheeks silently, one after another, but she did not wipe them away. She only held the baby tighter, pressing her lips against his fine dark hair.
Daniel’s voice came out low.
“Why did he stop crying for you?”
Elena opened her eyes.
For one second, she looked terrified.
Then she looked guilty.
Daniel stepped closer.
“I asked you a question.”
Elena lowered her gaze to the baby.
Noah lifted one tiny hand and rested it against her collarbone.
Daniel saw it.
The ease.
The familiarity.
The trust.
He had seen Noah with Vanessa. The child was quiet sometimes, yes, but never like this. Never calm in a way that seemed deeper than sleep. Never comforted as though he recognized the rhythm of someone’s heartbeat.
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“How many times have you held him?” he asked.
Elena swallowed.
“Sir…”
“How many times?”
She looked toward the staircase, then toward the front doors, as if afraid Vanessa might appear from the darkness.
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“Elena.”
Her lips trembled.
“Every night,” she whispered.
The words dropped into the marble foyer like a glass breaking.
Daniel stared at her.
“What did you say?”
Elena held Noah closer, and the baby did not protest. He curled into her as though her arms were the only safe place in the world.
“Every night,” she repeated, barely audible. “Since he was brought home.”
Daniel felt something cold move through him.
“No,” he said slowly. “That’s impossible.”
Elena looked up at him then, and the pain in her face made him take one step back.
“Mrs. Whitmore said he cried too much,” she said. “She said she couldn’t sleep. She told me to take him downstairs after midnight and keep him quiet. At first it was only for an hour. Then two. Then almost every night.”
Daniel’s mouth went dry.
He remembered those nights.
He remembered Vanessa telling him Noah was “finally getting used to the nursery.” He remembered being proud. Relieved. Grateful that his wife seemed to have things under control while he worked late, traveled, built the company his father had left behind.
He remembered asking if Noah was sleeping better.
Vanessa had smiled and said, “Of course. I have a system.”
Daniel looked at the maid holding his son.
“You were the system,” he said.
Elena did not answer.
Noah blinked slowly, his tiny fingers gripping the fabric of her uniform.
Daniel’s mind began searching backward through the last six months, through every odd detail he had ignored.
The way Noah cried whenever Vanessa handed him off too quickly.
The way Vanessa avoided feeding him herself.
The way Elena always seemed to know when the baby needed something before anyone else did.
The way Noah’s gaze followed Elena across rooms.
The way Vanessa had once snapped, “Stop staring at the staff like that, Daniel. It’s rude.”
A sick feeling spread through him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
Elena let out a small laugh, but there was no humor in it.
“Who would believe me, sir?”
“I would have.”
“Would you?”
The question struck harder than an accusation.
Daniel said nothing.
Because six months ago, he might not have.
Six months ago, he had believed his wife was overwhelmed but loving.
Six months ago, he had believed Elena was only the quiet maid who kept the nursery floors polished and the linen drawers organized.
Six months ago, he had believed money protected a family.
Now he stood in a mansion worth thirty million dollars and realized his own son had been comforted more by a woman on payroll than by either of his parents.
Daniel dragged a hand through his hair.
“What else?” he asked.
Elena’s face changed.
It was subtle.
But Daniel saw it.
Fear became panic.
He stepped closer.
“Elena. What else?”
She shook her head quickly.
“No, sir. Please. Not tonight.”
“Not tonight?” Daniel repeated. “My son screams for an hour, goes silent in your arms, and you’re crying like you’ve been carrying a secret for months. You don’t get to say not tonight.”
Elena’s tears fell faster.
Noah stirred against her, and she rocked him gently.
“Please don’t make me say it while I’m holding him.”
Daniel went still.
While I’m holding him.
The words landed wrong.
Too intimate.
Too possessive.
A thought formed in Daniel’s mind so terrible that he rejected it immediately.
But once it appeared, he could not destroy it.
He looked at Noah.
Dark hair.
Gray-blue eyes.
The same eyes Daniel’s mother had once called “Whitmore eyes.”
But babies changed. Features shifted. Everyone said so.
Still, Daniel found himself looking from the baby’s face to Elena’s.
Something in the shape of Noah’s mouth.
Something in the curve of his cheek.
No.
No, that was impossible.
Daniel’s voice became almost inaudible.
“Elena… why does he look at you like that?”
She closed her eyes.
“Because,” she whispered, “he knows.”
Daniel’s heart slammed once.
“Knows what?”
The front doors opened before she could answer.
Cold night air swept into the foyer.
Vanessa Whitmore stepped inside, laughing at something on her phone.
Her silver dress glittered beneath the chandelier. Her lipstick was perfect. Her diamond earrings caught the light with every movement.
Then she looked up.
The laugh died.
Her eyes moved from Daniel to Elena.
Then to the baby sleeping peacefully in the maid’s arms.
Vanessa’s face drained of color so quickly Daniel saw the truth before anyone spoke.
She knew.
Whatever Elena had been about to say, Vanessa already knew.
Daniel turned toward his wife.
“Vanessa,” he said softly, “what did you do?”
For the first time in their seven-year marriage, Vanessa Whitmore looked afraid.
And behind her fear, Daniel saw something worse.
Not guilt.
Rage.
