Trump threatens Iran would be 'obliterated' if it assassinates him - as he signs 'tough' directive against Tehran

Donald Trump has reinstated his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran - as he threatened Tehran it would be "obliterated" if it assassinates him.

The US president signed a memorandum on Tuesday in an effort to crack down on Iran's nuclear programme and restrict oil exports - moments before he met Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Trump said he also signed the "tough" directive on Iran because Tehran was "too close" to having a nuclear weapon.

He added he would hold talks with his counterpart in Tehran, but warned he has left "instructions" for his advisers that if Iran assassinated him, the US foe "would be obliterated".

The US Justice Department announced in federal charges in November that an Iranian plot to kill Mr Trump before the presidential election had been thwarted.

The department alleged Iranian officials had instructed Farhad Shakeri, 51, to focus on surveilling and ultimately assassinating Mr Trump. Shakeri is still at large in Iran.

It comes as Mr Trump withdrew the US from the UN Human Rights Council in an executive order.

The president has also stopped funding of the UN's relief agency for Gaza.

The order means Mr Trump has reinstated policies that were in place during his first administration.

Joe Biden's administration previously paused funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) after reports its staff were involved in the 7 October attacks.

Mr Trump also claimed that Palestinians have "no alternative" but to leave Gaza, but that he doesn't necessarily support Israelis settling in the enclave.

The US president also repeated previous suggestions that he would like to see Jordan and Egypt take Palestinians from Gaza.

"The Gaza thing has never worked," Trump told reporters.

"If we could find the right piece of land, pieces of land, and build them some really nice places...I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza."

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Egypt and Jordan, as well other Arab nations, have flatly rejected calls by Trump to relocate the territory's population during post-war rebuilding of the territory.

The UN estimates that 60% of structures in the enclave have been damaged or destroyed, with almost all of the 2.3 million people in Gaza having been forced to leave their homes during Israel's 15-month war to take shelter elsewhere in the territory.

Meanwhile, the president said he thinks he will wind down the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in what would be a dramatic overhaul of how the world's largest single donor allocates foreign assistance.

When a reporter said to Trump it sounded like he was going to "wind down" the agency, Trump chuckled and said "I think so."

Chaos has consumed the agency, which distributes billions of dollars of humanitarian aid around the world, since Trump
ordered a freeze on most US foreign aid hours after taking office and tasked billionaire Elon Musk, who has falsely accused USAID of being a "criminal" organisation, with scaling down the agency.

Mr Trump also said he would like to close the US Department of Education with executive action.

(c) Sky News 2025: Trump threatens Iran would be 'obliterated' if it assassinates him - as he signs '