The US Secret Service says it’s aware of a video aired by Iran’s state broadcaster appearing to threaten the life of Barron Trump, the youngest son of President Donald Trump.
Hardline Iranian media have repeatedly featured content threatening the life of President Trump and his family following the assassination of its former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneiand many of his family members at the outset of the US-Israeli war with Iran in February.
While there have previously been threats to first lady Melania Trump, this appears to be the first time their son Barron has been publicly singled out.
“The US Secret Service is aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees,” Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring told CNN in a statement. “Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.”
The nearly three-minute video begins with an English language graphic reading: “Where to kill Barron Trump?!,” and features stylized graphics showing locations where the younger Trump is publicly known to spend time, including Trump Tower in New York.
Towards the end of the video, the narrator suggested people were “eagerly waiting to receive our $10 million reward.”
The video was broadcast over the weekend by Iranian broadcaster IRIB, a state media outlet considered to be aligned with hardliners in the Iranian regime. The head of the broadcaster is directly appointed by Iran’s supreme leader.
A federal law enforcement source told CNN that the video is part of a campaign of videos from Iran targeting the Trump family and Trump himself. Some of the videos have included movement details and suggestions for killing members of the president’s family.
The source said that protective operations are constantly moved and adjusted based on an array of security information from the Secret Service, other agencies, police and other countries.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
President Trump has publicly discussed the Iranian threats on his life, saying in July: “I’m on whatever list… so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people.”
He made those comment at the NATO summit in Turkey, before he secretly slipped out of the country on an alternate military plane, which he boarded while hidden inside a catering truck, as part of an elaborate ruse prompted by an Iranian threat.
A person familiar with the matter told CNN that threat involved a shoulder-fired missile and was a specific enough threat that officials feared Trump’s life would be at enormous risk if he flew on either version of Air Force One.
The US government has long warned that Iran may try to kill Trump, ever since the 2020 drone strike he ordered which killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
During the dayslong funeral events for the late Khamenei in July, regime loyalists were seen holding posters with the words “Kill Trump” and offering a bounty for whoever avenged their leader’s death.
Anti-American displays, including chants of “Death to America” and flag burnings, have been a constant of state-organized rallies in Iran since the Islamic Revolution brought the theocratic regime to power in 1979.
By CNN
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
