US President Donald Trump assured on Tuesday that if Iran attempts to assassinate him, he would make the "order to wipe it off the face of this Earth."
Trump's comments were made during an interview with NewsNation's Katie Pavlich Tonight, which marked the second year since his inauguration.
"Anything ever happens, the whole country is going to get blown up,” Trump said and added, "I would absolutely hit them so hard. But I have very firm instructions.”
He also slammed former US president Joe Biden for not having a more powerful response to the threats made by the Iranian regime against his person.
"A president has to defend a president,” Trump told the host, assuring that he would respond decisively even if threats were directed at “somebody, not even a president.”
Trump seeks ability for 'decisive' strike against Iran
Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that US officials had said that Trump was still engaging with his aides on what he describes as "decisive" military actions that the US could take against the Islamic Republic.
This comes after Trump last week backed down from striking Iran, claiming that the killing of demonstrators amid the ongoing protests in the country was "stopping" and that Iran was not planning large-scale executions.
Still, NBC also reported last week that Trump wanted any US strike on Iran to be "definitive," such that it did not get brought into a drawn-out war that could last weeks or months.