Trump suggests a standing order to attack Iran if it assassinates him. But Vance would make the call
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump He argues that the US military left standing orders to destroy Iran” at levels they’ve never seen before “If Tehran follows through on its long-standing threats to kill him.
But there is no way the U.S. government could create an automatic, pre-authorized “dead man exchange” that would lead to immediate retaliation.
Instead, if Trump is killed, power would be transferred to his successor. 25th Amendment And Presidential Succession Act of 1947. Vice President J.D. Vance he would instantly become commander-in-chief and would have the authority to take any reprisals.
Under such a scenario, Vance could take Trump’s full call, but there’s also the chance he could decide not to follow his predecessor’s orders or otherwise respond directly.
“The United States has never used a technical ‘dead man button’ for many reasons,” said Garrett M. Graff, author of “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself — While of Us Die.”
The United States has comprehensive contingency plans for continuity of government in the event of a nuclear attack or other major disaster that would destroy most or all of Washington. But these plans also do not allow for the immediate launch of retaliatory attacks upon the death of a president, even if that president has requested that the military be ready for it.
Trump nevertheless stated on his social media website on Saturday that Iran had threatened to “assassinate or attempt to assassinate” him and said that “1,000 missiles are Locked and Loaded and targeting the Islamic Republic of Iran, and if the Government of Iran follows through on this threat, thousands of missiles will immediately follow.”
religious leader of Iran Mojtaba Khamenei, Hours later, he said that Iranians would continue to avenge his father’s murder. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The elder Khamenei died in the initial US and Israeli strikes that launched the war in late February, and he was mourned at funerals across Iran this week. His son said that retaliation “is the will of our nation and must be fulfilled.”
“We promise to avenge the pure blood of you and all our martyrs in these two wars from the criminal and despicable murderers,” he said in his speech broadcast on state television. “This revenge is the will of our nation and must be fulfilled.”
The White House on Saturday did not immediately respond to questions about what its military orders would be if Trump were killed.
During the last funeral rites, mourners repeatedly carried posters or banners He called for Trump to be killed along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Israel warned US officials about new Iranian plans to kill Trump. The White House declined to comment, but Trump referred to such threats in remarks at the NATO summit in Türkiye this week, saying, “They want to overthrow the leader of the United States, which means me.”
“What we know is happening is that Iran wants to target senior American leaders,” said Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh, a former Biden administration aide.
“You have to accept these as credible threats,” Singh said.
US retaliation will almost certainly come, but not automatically
Trump was targeted two domestic assassination attempts I saw a man with a gun during the 2024 presidential campaign storm The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner he attended in April.
Minister flew part of the way back to Washington This week from Türkiye with an old Air Force One jet instead of a capable new plane from Qatar aeroplaneIt raises new safety questions about the new aircraft. Images of the renewed jet with an estimated cost of 400 million dollars show not equipped It has some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems as previous versions.
The swap took place between the USA and Iran began trade strikes once againlast month’s risk first agreement to end the war. “I’m No. 1 on their list,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when asked about Iran’s threats.
Graff said the United States has prepared years-long plans for how to transfer nuclear launch authority in the event of a surprise attack. This included the fact that, for 30 years of the Cold War, the country flew squadrons of airborne command posts 24 hours a day, with a general who could take over nuclear launch orders if Washington were lost.
“What Trump said, I believe, is that if he was killed, he was given orders to attack, for example, that he would have to follow the Pentagon’s standard launch protocols,” Graff said. “There are many reasons to doubt the legality of such standing orders because, in the event of a president’s death, nuclear launch authority would immediately pass to the vice president or his designated successor, and it would ultimately be up to him to decide whether to proceed.”
Trump’s post only mentions launching missiles at Iran; The United States has done this many times since the beginning of its war with Iran. He did not publicly threaten nuclear weapons.
Graff said that in addition to leaving valid orders in the event of Trump’s death, he “could have told Vance something like ‘If I get killed, nuke Iran,’ and that would “make more sense and be perfectly legal.”
Biden administration also warned Iran about Trump
It is not uncommon for Washington to receive credible threats against the president and senior U.S. leaders from Iran and other foreign adversaries, often disclosed through national security briefings or other classified means. But it is much less common for Trump to publicly state that he is personally targeted by Iran.
Still, this isn’t the first time Washington has threatened Iran over threats against Trump.
In 2022, the Biden administration warned Iran against attacking US citizens after the Justice Department said a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps planned to assassinate Trump’s first-term national security adviser, John Bolton. Now a Trump critic, Bolton last month pleaded guilty Illegal retention of classified documents in a lawsuit filed by Trump’s Justice Department.
“If Iran attacks any of our citizens, including those who continue to serve or have previously served the United States, Iran will face serious consequences,” President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in 2022.
Two years later, in the heat of Trump’s campaign against Biden’s vice president, Democrat Kamala Harris, the Biden administration quietly warned Iran once again. This time, officials made clear that an attack on Trump would be considered an act of war.
