Gorka: Trump Keeps Succession Letter for Vance in Resolute Desk

President Donald Trump keeps instructions in the Oval Office for Vice President JD Vance to succeed him if needed, deputy assistant to the president Sebastian Gorka said in a podcast interview.

"There is a letter in the drawer in the Resolute Desk that is addressed to the vice president should something happen to him," Gorka said on the "Pod Force One" podcast Wednesday.

Trump has faced repeated threats to his life. An attempted assassination weeks ago at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner raised concerns about the president's safety and rising political violence from left-wing actors. Gorka dismissed the chance that foreign countries would try to kill the president as Trump heads to a high-stakes summit in Beijing.

"Everybody wants recognition from this man. This is the most powerful individual we have seen since the likes of Eisenhower. Right? This is a man everybody wants to be at the table with him, to have the state dinner, to have the recognition," Gorka said. "The idea that you do something that undermines your recognition goes against what they wish to have."

"We have protocols, trust me. Not ones I can discuss, but we have protocols," he added about the letter.

A White House spokesperson directed Fox News Digital to a recent Trump interview when asked about Gorka's claim that such a letter exists.

Trump told NewsNation in January that he has "very firm instructions" if the Iranian regime took him out.

"Like if I were here and they were making that threat to somebody, even not even a president, but somebody like they did with me, I would absolutely hit them so hard," Trump said. "Anything happens, they're going to wipe them off the face of this earth."

The Constitution puts the vice president first in line to the presidency. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 sets the order after that, starting with the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore, then eligible Cabinet officials.