Every few years, America seems surprised to discover that Iran still hates us. This week, the reminder came in the form of renewed threats against President Donald Trump, “We Will Kill Trump” banners at the funeral of Iran’s former supreme leader, intelligence warnings, and the usual promises of revenge.

“WE WILL KILL TRUMP.”

That message has been displayed on massive banners and signs as thousands gather for slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s burial ceremony in Iran.

The crowd repeatedly vowed revenge for Khamenei’s death, with signs also threatening Vice President JD Vance,… pic.twitter.com/EOYqlONM5C

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 10, 2026

None of this is new.

Iran has spent nearly fifty years telling the world exactly what it believes. “Death to America” isn’t just a chant shouted by an angry crowd. It’s the slogan of a regime that has built its identity around opposing the United States. At some point, we have to stop acting surprised every time Iran reminds us it means it.

“Death to America” Means Exactly What It Says

Iran didn’t suddenly wake up one morning and decide it didn’t like Donald Trump. Long before Trump was a politician, long before he was even thinking about the White House, Iran was chanting “Death to America.” They’ve been saying it for decades. We just have a habit of forgetting until they remind us.

Every new threat gets treated like a breaking story. It really isn’t. It’s the latest chapter in a story Iran has been writing since 1979.

Trump, on the other hand, appears to be taking this one personally.

After reports of another Iranian threat against him, Trump said the United States has “1,000 missiles locked and loaded” and warned that Iran would be “decimated and destroyed” if the regime tried to assassinate him. He also said he had already left instructions for the military to respond if anything happened.

That is not the language of a man brushing off a threat.

And honestly, why would he? Iran has been threatening him since he ordered the strike that killed Qasem Soleimani in 2020. Now the regime is once again talking openly about revenge, while banners in the streets promise to kill the sitting president of the United States.

Trump may be the name on the banner, but the hatred behind it is much older than he is.

President Donald Trump on Friday evening announced that he has preemptively given orders for Iran’s complete decimation should the country follow through on threats to assassinate him. ⁠
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Trump previously told the New York Post that he has left “instructions…to just literally… pic.twitter.com/20Djvo8WwR

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 11, 2026

This Isn’t About One President

If Donald Trump had never become president, do we really think Iran would suddenly become friendly toward the United States?

Of course not.

Ronald Reagan wasn’t the problem. George W. Bush wasn’t the problem. Donald Trump isn’t the problem. Iran’s hostility toward America didn’t begin with any one president, and it won’t end with one either.

That’s what those banners really tell us. They aren’t just threatening Donald Trump. They’re reminding the world what the Islamic Republic has believed from the very beginning. Trump may be the name on today’s banner. America has always been the real target.

No amount of negotiations, sanctions relief, or pallets of cash was ever going to change the ideology of the Islamic Republic. You can change a bank balance. You can’t buy a new ideology.

Iranian leaders have spent years explaining that “Death to America” doesn’t really mean Americans. Sometimes they say it’s directed at U.S. leaders or American policies instead. Fine. But if the slogan survives negotiations, sanctions relief, sanctions, military strikes, Republican presidents, Democratic presidents, and now public threats against an American president, maybe we’re arguing over a distinction without much of a difference.

It doesn’t matter who sits in the White House. The Islamic Republic will keep chanting “Death to America” as long as America refuses to bend to its will.

We never will.

The next time Iran chants “Death to America,” don’t waste time asking what they really mean. They’ve spent nearly fifty years explaining it through their words, their actions, and their threats.

At some point, we have to stop explaining away what they’ve made perfectly clear. “Death to America” was never just a slogan. It was always a declaration of who they are.

The only question left is whether we’re finally willing to believe them.

Feature Image: AI-generated illustration.