Donald Trump has left secret instructions for JD Vance in the Oval Office, to be opened only if he dies in office. 'Precise instructions' written by Trump will be handed to Vance if the Vice President has to succeed him during his second term, counterterrorism official Sebastian Gorka said in a recent interview with the New York Post.
Vance will also receive a handwritten letter from Trump, tucked away in a drawer of the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, laying out the rules of engagement for avenging the President if he is assassinated. Trump has survived multiple assassination attempts and faced credible threats from the Iranian regime in retaliation for the killing of its top commanders.
Gorka said protocols are in place should China or another foreign actor manage to 'take him out.' 'We have protocols, trust me. Not ones I can discuss, but we have protocols,' Gorka told the Post.
Trump in January said he's left 'very firm instructions' for Iran to be 'blown up' if they manage to kill him: 'I've left notification ... [if] anything ever happens, we're going to blow the – the whole country is going to get blown up.'
The President has just landed in China, a key ally of Iran, where heightened security concerns loom over his visit. Trump is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping to discuss the ongoing war in Iran, trade relations, artificial intelligence, and other pressing issues. Vance will also receive a handwritten letter from Trump, tucked away in a drawer of the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, laying out the rules of engagement for avenging the President if he is assassinated.
The President was greeted by top Chinese officials upon landing in Beijing on Wednesday. Trump's top counterterrorism official Sebastian Gorka went on to suggest China could harm Trump by 'putting something in the air that makes him sick 30 days later.' As some analysts and allies of the President express concern over the trip, Gorka noted that Trump has succeeded in making himself 'the existential threat to China.'
'He alone stands between them and world domination, so they have every reason in the world to take him out,' the counterterrorism official added. Gorka went on to suggest China could harm Trump by 'putting something in the air that makes him sick 30 days later.' But he immediately told the Post, 'I have no fear at all of them doing something,' adding that 'the President, in my estimation, is very safe.'
'The idea that you do something that undermines your recognition goes against what they wish to have,' Gorka concluded.
Concerns over Trump's security were thrust back into the spotlight last month after a gunman wielding a shotgun sprinted through a Secret Service checkpoint at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Agents rushed the president and Vance out of the ballroom, along with several top Cabinet officials.
Trump is traveling to China with his top diplomatic advisers as well as a number of American tech billionaires and executives. Vance, however, will remain in the US for the duration of the summit.
