President Donald Trump publicly says he has ordered the US military to keep 1,000 missiles "Locked and Loaded" ready to strike Iran if Tehran attempts to assassinate him, a statement that escalates public threats and seeks to deter attacks.Legal scholars and security officials emphasize that automatic retaliation is not legally possible: authority to order strikes would transfer immediately to Vice President JD Vance under the 25th Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act, and the United States does not maintain a technical "dead man’s switch."Intelligence reports and former officials warn of credible Iranian plots against
Donald Trump, Israeli officials reportedly warned US counterparts,
Iran’s supreme leader
Mojtaba Khamenei vows revenge after the earlier death of Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, and the
White House has not explained how any standing orders would be executed if the president were killed.