The Media Line: Trump to ‘Katie Pavlich Tonight’: Iran Will Be Wiped Out (VIDEO)

Trump to ‘Katie Pavlich Tonight’: Iran Will Be Wiped Out 

By The Media Line Staff 

President Donald Trump issued stark warnings to Iran and defended sweeping domestic policy moves in a wide-ranging interview aired Tuesday on NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich Tonight, using the one-year anniversary of his second inauguration to argue his administration is cracking down at home while preparing for tougher action abroad. 

Speaking from the Roosevelt Room, the US president said he has already directed a maximal response if Tehran attempts to assassinate him. “I have very firm instructions. Anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth,” he told host Katie Pavlich. He restated the threat in even broader terms: “Anything ever happens, the whole country is going to get blown up.” The president added, “I would absolutely hit them so hard. But I have very firm instructions.” 

The comments come as US and Iranian officials trade escalating public warnings. The interview referenced intelligence assessments that Iranian threats against President Trump and other US figures persist, tied to Tehran’s long-stated desire for revenge over the 2020 killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. The segment also noted President Trump has faced recent threats and attempts, including a July 2024 shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and a separate incident later that year involving an armed suspect near his Florida golf course; US officials have said there is no confirmed evidence linking those incidents to Iran. 

President Trump criticized former President Joe Biden’s posture toward Iranian threats. “A president has to defend a president,” he said, adding that he would respond decisively even if Iran targeted “somebody, not even a president.” 

Pavlich, who launched the new prime-time program this week, told The Media Line that “the president did a great service by taking out the nuclear facilities by ordering attacks. The stakes in Iran and the region are still high, and what’s happening with protests is historic.” 

Iranian leaders, according to the reporting, have also warned of drastic consequences if the country’s leadership is targeted. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X that any attack on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would amount to total war against Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, warned that if the United States launches a military operation, Iran would not respond with the “restraint” it showed during 12-day Iran–Israel war in June 2025, writing: “An all-out confrontation will certainly be ferocious and drag on far, far longer than the fantasy timelines that Israel and its proxies are trying to peddle to the White House. It will certainly engulf the wider region and have an impact on ordinary people around the globe.” 

The reporting also described continued US military movements toward the Middle East, including the deployment of an aircraft carrier and supporting forces—moves often associated with contingency planning for major operations. 

On domestic policy, President Trump defended deep federal workforce reductions as an efficiency measure. “I hate to fire people, but we fired hundreds of thousands of federal employees because we had 10 people to do one job,” he said. 

Asked about protests in Minneapolis tied to Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, President Trump said he is not ready to invoke the Insurrection Act, while leaving the option open. “I don’t think it is yet. It might be at some point,” he said, arguing the law could bypass courts and “make life a lot easier.” He described demonstrators as outsiders, saying, “These are professional, paid people. They’re like actors,” and attacked critics, calling Don Lemon “a loser” and Rep. Ilhan Omar “horrible.” 

Linked video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG6IhrMo7mM