Donald Trump has brushed off a strange and unsettling remark from an advisor to Iranโs Supreme Leader, who joked on national television about the president being targeted by a drone while sunbathing at Mar-a-Lago.
โTrump can no longer sunbathe in Mar-a-Lagoโ
The comment came from Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a senior advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a broadcast on Iranian TV on July 9. While discussing Iranโs military technology, Larijani laughed as he imagined Trump being struck by a micro-drone mid-relaxation, per The Independent.
โTrump can no longer sunbathe in Mar-a-Lago,โ he said. โBecause while heโs lying down, a micro-drone might target and strike him right in the navel.โ
Though Larijani added: โOf course, we fight like men,โ seemingly walking back the threat, the statement still caught attention in the U.S., and made its way into a Fox News interview with Trump.
Asked by host Peter Doocy when he last went sunbathing, Trump deadpanned: โItโs been a long time. I donโt know, maybe I was around seven or so. Iโm not too big into it.โ
He then casually dismissed Larijaniโs remark: โI guess itโs a threat. Iโm sure itโs not a threat, actually, but perhaps it is.โ
The comments from Iran come shortly after Trump confirmed he would โabsolutelyโ consider launching another strike on Iran, following a June U.S. operation that targeted three key nuclear sites.
Asked by a reporter whether he would bomb the country again if intelligence showed troubling uranium enrichment, Trump responded, โSure, without question. Absolutely, it has to be unbelievable.โ
He went on to describe both Iran and Israel as โexhausted,โ saying, โThe last thing theyโre thinking about right now is nuclear. You know what theyโre thinking of? Theyโre thinking about tomorrow, trying to live.โ
In response to Larijaniโs remarks, the U.S. Secret Service declined to comment on specific protective intelligence but issued a brief statement to Newsweek: โWe operate in a heightened and very dynamic threat environment, and the safety and security of the President and all of our protectees remains our highest priority.โ
