‘Doomsday’ plans in place for Donald Trump’s ‘escape’ as global tensions continue to rise
The President will have the final say on deciding the US response in the event of a catastrophic disaster
As tensions continue to rise across the world in the wake of the strikes on Iran, many have been left wondering what would happen should 'doomsday' occur.
Some of the mega-rich celebrities such as Mark Zuckerberg have already shown off their emergency bunkers and the plan for Donald Trump is pretty similar, in the event of a nuclear weapon being used.
Although the rest of the world are hoping that nuclear weapons will be used as a deterrent and nothing else, the rising conflicts across the planet between Russia and Ukraine, and now the US, Israel and Iran suggest that WW3 might well be closer than ever before.
The use of nuclear weapons would undoubtedly be an absolute disaster for pretty much the whole planet, as bestselling author Annie Jacobsen confirmed on a recent episode of the Diary of a CEO podcast.
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She said: "Most of the world, certainly the mid-latitudes, would be covered in sheets of ice... places like Iowa and Ukraine would be just snow for 10 years.
"Agriculture would fail, and when agriculture fails, people just die.
"On top of that, you have the radiation poisoning because the ozone layer will be so damaged and destroyed that you couldn't be outside in the sunlight – people will be forced to live underground."
So, it's no surprise therefore that the plan for perhaps the world's most powerful man would likely see him head underground in the event of a doomsday event.
That has long been established by The Continuity of Government Readiness Conditions (COGCON) system, which would see the US president have the final say about the state of affairs in the country, as he looks to decided on the appropriate responses based on the threat level.
The COGCON system also states that he would be evacuated almost immediately in the event of a crisis.
It says: "The President would evacuate to the Marine One hangar at the Anacostia Naval Support Facility. His ultimate destination would be onboard the E-4B National Airborne Operations Center (NAOB), a highly survivable militarised version of the Boeing 747-200 capable of being refuelled in flight.
"After several days in the air, the President could choose to go to one of the Presidential Emergency Facilities at Mount Weather, Site R, the underground bunker at Camp David, the bunker at Offutt Air Force Base, the new bunker under the Denver International Airport, or other still-classified locations."
The presidential line of succession would then be the next point of focus, with the Vice President and other senior White House officials likely to be taken to the White House bunker.
Of course, that will all depend on the exact situation and what Trump decides, as the lowest level of crisis would see federal executive branch government employees work pretty much as normal, while COGCON 1 would see them all prepare for 'a catastrophic emergency'.
Meanwhile, there is already a plan in place should Trump be assassinated while he is still in office, with the government suggesting recently that Iran has already failed to kill Trump after US strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran strikes: what you need to know
Why are the United States and Israel attacking Iran?
US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday (28 February) that the US and Israel have started 'major combat operations' in Iran after explosions were heard in multiple cities across the country.
Following a significant buildup of US forces in the region in recent weeks, Trump declared in a video posted on Truth Social that 'we are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground'.
Alongside hundreds of civilian casualties - including at least 165 people, most children, after a reported strike hit a school in Minab - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was confirmed dead following Israeli missile strikes around Tehran.
According to Trump, the aim of this weekend's attacks were to 'ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon'.
This has come after weeks of Trump threatening military action in Iran if the Middle Eastern country did not agree to a new deal over its nuclear programme. However, Iran has insisted repeatedly that its nuclear activities are 'entirely peaceful'.
What areas of the Middle East have been affected?
In retaliation to the US and Israeli strikes, Iran has launched strikes of its own on Israel and Gulf Arab countries, which include Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.
The BBC reports that at least nine people were killed in a strike on the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, while military and civilian targets - including an American naval base in Bahrain and Dubai's international airport in the United Arab Emirates - were also targeted across the weekend.
Several videos have been posted on social media from tourists and civilians that show the damage inflicted across these areas from missile and drone strikes, including many British citizens who are currently stranded in Dubai.
Meanwhile, after Lebanon's Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah fired missiles at the Israeli city of Haifa, Israel responded with its own strikes.
On Tuesday (3 March), Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz promised IDF troops on the ground would 'advance and seize additional strategic areas in Lebanon in order to prevent fire on Israeli border communities'.
Is the UK going to war with Iran?
This is a question that has been asked repeatedly since the major combat operation began in Iran, due to the nation being an ally of both the United States and Israel.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed that British planes were 'in the sky' in the Middle East as part of a defensive operation 'to protect our people, our interests and our allies', and condemned Iran's retaliatory attacks on 'partners across the region'.
On Sunday (1 March), the prime minister also agreed to a request from the US to launch strikes against Iran from British military bases.
While the UK did not participate in the strikes, Starmer released a joint statement with the leaders of France and Germany, calling for Iran to 'refrain from indiscriminate military strikes'.
"Iran can end this now," Starmer said. "They should refrain from further strikes, give up their weapons programme and cease the appalling violence and oppression of the Iranian people – who deserve the right to determine their own future."
However, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Yvette Cooper, has said it is 'simply not true' that the UK is being dragged into another Iraq-style conflict in the Middle East.
While addressing a reported drone strike on a RAF base in Cyprus believed to have originated from Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, she told Sky News on Monday, 2 March: "We took a very specific decision not to provide support for strikes that were taking place over this weekend. We have been clear that we believe there should be a diplomatic process, negotiations process."
Trump, for his part, slammed Starmer on Tuesday, saying he 'has not been helpful' in the context of the situation in Iran.
He added: "It's very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was."
Topics: Iran, Donald Trump
James Moorhouse