US President Donald Trump praised Sen. Darline Graham Nordone on Tuesday night after she secured a place in the runoff for the Republican nomination for her late brother Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat, while also addressing the Iranian threat against him and the extraordinary security measures taken during his recent trip to Turkey.
Reporters at Joint Base Andrews pressed Trump about the security operation surrounding his departure from Turkey last month, when he was moved to a different military aircraft amid a threat against him.
The president said the decision had been made by the Secret Service and the military and that he simply followed their instructions.
“It’s only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they’d like to do,” Trump said. “They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say.”
Asked about the threat that prompted the unusual measures, Trump appeared to play down how much he knew about the details.
“I guess there was a threat out there. I didn’t really ask that much about it,” he said. “I get a lot of threats.”
Trump said the aircraft switch was made in England and maintained that the plane on which he ultimately traveled may actually have faced greater danger.
“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” he said. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane… that they would be more likely to go for.”
US president unsurprised by the Iranian threat on his life
Asked whether he was surprised by the threat, Trump replied that he was not.
“I have a lot of threats. I have a lot of threats that you don’t know about,” he said.
“Any consequential president has a lot of threats. Non-consequential presidents don’t get threatened, and I think that I’m maybe the most consequential president.”
Trump added that the threats did not worry him.
“I don’t worry about anything, to be honest,” he said. “Whatever it is, you know my attitude. Whatever.”
‘I’m the last person to trust Iran’
Trump then pushed back against a suggestion that he trusted Tehran, insisting that Iran had repeatedly deceived him.
“I don’t trust Iran. Why are you saying I trust Iran?” Trump said. “I’m the last person to trust Iran. They’ve lied to me constantly.”
US has ‘total control’ over the Strait of Hormuz
He also repeated his assertion that the United States now has complete control of the Strait of Hormuz.
“We have total control over the Strait [of Hormuz] right now. They don’t have control. We have total control. We own it,” Trump said.
Earlier in the exchange, Trump said the situation with Iran was going “absolutely fine,” crediting the US Navy with establishing control over the strategic waterway.
“We totally control the Strait of Hormuz,” he said. “Nobody else, only us. Our Navy is unbelievable.”
Trump warned that any renewed Iranian action could be met with overwhelming force.
“At some point, maybe they’ll do something, and then they get blown away,” he said. “But we, right now, we’re in a very good position.”
The president concluded by arguing that decades of Iranian dominance in the region had come to an end.
“We have a country that has been the bully of the Middle East for 50 years,” Trump said. “They’re no longer the bully of the Middle East.”
Trump praised Darline Graham, ‘she’s got good genetics’
Trump said Graham had called him shortly before to thank him for his endorsement.
“She just called me to thank me for the endorsement, and it’s great that she’s doing so well,” Trump said. “She’s a very good woman, and she’s got good genetics because she’s related to Lindsey, who is a real professional.”
Trump noted that he also likes Graham’s Republican rivals, describing them as supporters of his movement, but made clear that his endorsement remains with her.
“I like the other people in the race also. They’re all Trump. I mean, they’re all Trumpers, but, you know, I endorsed her. I think she’s great,” he said.
Trump also invoked his close relationship with the late South Carolina senator, saying Lindsey Graham frequently spoke to him about his sister.
“Lindsey loved his sister more than anything else,” Trump said. “He would tell me about his sister that she’s just outstanding. He actually said she’s better than him. That was hard for Lindsey to say.”
