President Donald Trump publicly declared at a NATO summit press conference that Iran has placed him at the top of its assassination kill list — and he said it while explaining why he flew home on the older Air Force One instead of the new jet.

Story Snapshot

• Trump told reporters he is “number one on the kill list for Iran,” making the statement at a NATO summit press conference and again to journalists aboard Air Force One.
• Trump linked the threat to his decision not to fly the new Air Force One out of Turkey, citing security concerns tied to Iranian assassination plots.
• The U.S. Department of Justice has filed charges in a real Iranian murder-for-hire scheme that targeted Trump, giving his claim real legal backing.
• Trump says Iran has also targeted U.S. politicians and media figures, framing the kill list as broader than just himself.

Trump Names Himself Iran’s Top Target

At the NATO summit, Trump told reporters flat out: “I’m number one on the kill list for Iran.” He repeated the claim to journalists aboard Air Force One on the flight home. Trump said Iran has a list of U.S. politicians and media figures it wants dead — and that he sits at the very top. He did not treat it as a rumor. He spoke about it as a known fact that shapes his daily security decisions.

Trump also used the claim to explain a notable security choice. He skipped the new Boeing 747 Air Force One — a plane gifted by Qatar and recently fitted out — and flew home from Turkey on the older VC-25A instead. He said the security situation around the new jet did not meet his standards given the active threat from Iran. It was a concrete, visible decision tied directly to the kill list concern.

A Real Iranian Plot — Not Just Talk

Trump’s claim is not without legal grounding. The U.S. Department of Justice filed charges in a murder-for-hire scheme in which Iranian operatives allegedly plotted to kill Trump. That case involved a named suspect and real criminal charges — making it far more than speculation. The existence of that case gives weight to Trump’s broader claim that Iran views him as a primary target. No one in the U.S. government has called the Iranian threat to Trump’s life a fiction.

Politico also reported that Iran maintains a hit list of former Trump administration officials. That reporting lines up with what Trump said at the NATO summit. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has a documented history of planning attacks on U.S. soil. The threat is real enough that the Justice Department has prosecuted people over it. Trump is not inventing a danger out of thin air — the legal record backs up the core of what he is saying.

Iran’s Leadership Has Been Decimated

Trump made his kill list comments in the context of a broader military campaign against Iran. He stated that multiple rounds of Iranian leadership have been eliminated through U.S. and Israeli strikes. Trump said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in joint U.S.-Israel strikes, a claim that drew major media attention. Israel separately killed two top Iranian commanders in early 2026. Trump called the cumulative effect of these strikes “regime change.”

President Trump discusses not going home on the new AF1… and how he is #1 on the Iran “Kill List”

Feels like seeding… I don’t like it. Keep POTUS In your prayers. pic.twitter.com/0oSSRs2uI9

— Trumpusa1 (@Trumpusa1A1) July 8, 2026

With Iran’s leadership structure under severe pressure, the kill list claim takes on added meaning. Iran has strong motive to strike back at the man it holds most responsible for its losses. Trump framed his own position simply: he is doing his job despite the threat. “I’m number one on the kill list for Iran, but I’m doing my job,” he said at the NATO summit. For conservatives who have watched Iran threaten Americans for decades without consequence, Trump’s willingness to name the threat and keep moving is exactly the kind of leadership they voted for.

Sources:

facebook.com, aljazeera.com, youtube.com, instagram.com, npr.org, politico.com