Counterterrorism official Sebastian Gorka has claimed that President Donald Trump has drafted "precise instructions" to be handed to JD Vance in the event of his death while still in office.

President Trump is understood to have prepared a confidential document containing detailed guidance for JD Vance, which has been secured in the Oval Office with strict orders that it should only be accessed if Trump is killed during his term, Gorka disclosed during an interview on "Pod Force One.

"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, while explaining why he remains unconcerned about Trump's visit to China and potential further assassination attempts. "That is the language of power that nations like China, Iran, and Russia understand," Gorka told The New York Post's Miranda Devine.

"So no, for both of those reasons, the President, in my estimation, is very safe." The additional reason Gorka cited was that, "everybody wants recognition from this man," according to the counterterrorism chief.

The counterterrorism director emphasised that, "The president has said it on camera, sitting behind the Resolute desk. The letter is there."

"We have protocols, trust me. Not ones I can discuss, but we have protocols." Gorka added. Gorka also revealed that "within 90 minutes of another assassination attempt," President Trump is "cracking jokes about it."

The former right-wing commentator, now serving as senior director for counterterrorism, added that "you only do that out of love, in this case love of country."

When quizzed about Trump and efforts to prevent assassination attempts, he stated that "the biggest problem we have in the Trump administration is keeping up with the commander in chief. It's basically impossible."

He went on to explain that when he and his colleagues step away from their secure room and work phones for a break and check the news, "we say, oh my dear lord, what has he done now?" - like "peace treaty #8."

Gorka's newly unveiled counterterrorism strategy places the elimination of drug cartels across the Western hemisphere as its foremost priority.

The shake-up in focus reflects some stark figures - Gorka claimed that more Americans have been killed by cartels flooding illicit drugs into US communities than the total number of American service members lost in conflicts across the globe since the Second World War.

According to Gorka and the report, the administration's other counterterrorism priorities include:

- Targeting and destroying Islamic military groups that possess the capability to carry out operations against the United States.

- Identifying and neutralising violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender or anarchist.

- Stepping up efforts to prevent non-state actors from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.