Former President Donald Trump on Thursday called for the United States to destroy Iran if he were to be assassinated.

US authorities reportedly knew about a suspected Iranian plot to kill President Trump before the assassination attempt at one of his rallies, but it is not known whether that plot is linked to the assassination attempt. Posts On Truth Social, he said an assassination by Iran was “always a possibility” and that if it did happen, he wanted the US to retaliate by destroying Iran. (Related: Good news for victim shot in chest and liver during assassination attempt on President Trump)

“If they 'assassinate President Trump', which is always a possibility, I want the US to destroy Iran and wipe it off the face of the earth. If that doesn't happen, US leaders will be seen as 'cowardly' cowards!” the former president posted.

President Trump also posted a short video of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. Said Iran “has the audacity to threaten to assassinate President Trump,” Netanyahu said, talking about how Iran has been a grave adversary of the United States for decades, taking Americans hostage, committing terrorist acts and “sending death squads to kill our former Secretary of State and former national security advisor.”

Suspect Thomas Michael Crooks, 20, attempted to assassinate President Trump on July 13 when he fired several shots at President Trump and a crowd at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore and wounding two other attendees.

Iran has openly stated its desire for revenge against President Trump and members of his administration for the death of Qassem Soleimani, a prominent Iranian figure and former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was killed by the U.S. in a drone strike in 2020.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe recently said reports of the alleged Iranian plot made the assassination attempt on Crooks “even more obvious.”

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