Secret Service Investigates Iranian Video Threatening Melania Trump
A new video produced by propagandists associated with Iran is prompting the Secret Service to investigate whether first lady Melania Trump or Barron Trump are in danger. Here is a look at what the video included and why U.S. officials are concerned.
Iranian Video Details Where to Kill Melania Trump, Prompting Concern
An animated video titled "Where to Kill Melania" is now being investigated by the Secret Service. The video was first shared by Tasnim News Agency, a group that U.S. officials and other respected international organizations have previously said is controlled by the Iranian government. The footage includes luxury department stores in New York City that the first lady allegedly likes to frequent.
The video in question also gave viewers instructions on how to use these shopping locations to carry out assassination attempts on the first lady, raising concern even further. There were also indications that the president's 20-year-old son, Barron, might be a target of these attempts.
Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring told PEOPLE magazine that the organization "is aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees.“ Herring continued to say that "Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.”
The threat against the president's family comes as the war with Iran rages on. President Donald Trump has continued to escalate the strikes in recent weeks following the collapse of a tenuous ceasefire agreement last month.
Most recently, Saudi fighter jets joined the U.S. forces to bomb Iranian-controlled militia outposts in Iraq on Tuesday. The next morning, President Trump told Fox News that the U.S. forces will “beat the f---ing s--- out of” Iran immediately after Iranian forces launched a surprise missile attack on the U.S. outposts in Jordan. Trump went on to call Iranian-backed militias “a cancer on the world.”
President Trump Also Target of Assassination Attempts
Trump is no stranger to assassination attempts over the years. He was famously wounded in the ear when he was shot at while speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, during the 2024 presidential campaign.
While Iran has not been formally linked to any of the assassination attempts against the president, its citizens have not been shy about threatening Trump's life. Earlier in the month, Iranians took to the streets to threaten Trump during the rallies surrounding the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The New York Times is reporting that Trump has already swapped out his new Air Force One plane gifted to him by Qatar for an older version that has better security. The president was supposed to fly the new plane back from a summit in Ankara, Turkey, earlier in the month but decided to revert to the older Air Force One after agents were informed of a plot on his life.
On his last day in Turkey, Trump said that “They want to take out the U.S. leader — me. I’m on every list. I saw this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long.”
Trump has been direct about his plans regarding Iran if anything happens to him. He told the New York Post on July 10 that he has left instructions for his staff to "bomb them at levels that they've never seen before."
The war with Iran is coming at an immense cost to human life. According to the BBC, at least 1,400 civilians and hundreds of children have been killed at the hands of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran since the beginning of the war in February. Most notably, a strike on a school in the city of Minab on the first day of the war killed at least 110 students.
The assault that killed Khamenei was also responsible for killing the supreme leader's 14-month-old granddaughter.
The Pentagon continues to give mixed messages about the number of casualties incurred on the U.S. side. Trump most recently said that 18 U.S. service members have died in this war. The AP is reporting that over 500 troops have been injured over the last several months of battle.
Despite the threat to her life, the first lady is continuing to be out and about at public events. While she declined to attend the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner on July 24, she has attended several other high-profile events in recent weeks. This includes attending the UFC fight at the White House on President Trump’s birthday on June 14, as well as the FIFA World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19.
The first lady's senior adviser, Marc Beckman, said that she “was not frightened,” adding that she "will not stop working as first lady of the United States.”
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