WASHINGTON (AP) — A death threat against Donald Trump from Iran had necessitated additional security measures in the days before the campaign rally on Saturday. However, it had nothing to do with the assassination attempt on the Republican presidential candidate, two U.S. authorities said on Tuesday. Police also warned of possible further violence after the shooting.
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said officials have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump administration officials for years, starting with the last administration. Trump ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani, who led the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, in 2020.
“These threats result from Iran’s desire to avenge the killing of Qassem Soleimani. We view this as a national and domestic security matter of the highest priority,” Watson said.
U.S. intelligence and the Trump campaign team have been briefed on the latest threat, leading to an boost in resources and assets, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence issues.
The additional forces could not prevent the attack on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania, in which a 20-year-old opened fire with an AR rifle from a nearby roof, inflicting an ear injury on the former president, killing one rally participant and seriously injuring two others.
Watson said no links had been established between the shooter at the rally “and any accomplice or co-conspirator, either domestic or foreign.”
“The Secret Service and other agencies continually receive new information about potential threats and take action to adjust resources as needed,” said Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, who said he could not comment on specific threats.
The online rhetoric is particularly worrying
Since the shooting at the rally, rhetoric online has become particularly concerning, “as individuals in some online communities have threatened, encouraged, or suggested violent acts in response to the assassination attempt,” according to a joint intelligence bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI obtained by The Associated Press.
Presidents – and presidential candidates – are a regular target of threats, but the FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials are “concerned about the potential for further violence or retaliation following this attack,” said the bulletin released Monday evening. Law enforcement warned that lone perpetrators and tiny groups “will continue to view rallies and campaign events as attractive targets.”
Trump and President Joe Biden are now surrounded by visibly increased security personnel. And independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received protection from the Secret Service after the shooting.
When Biden boarded Air Force One for Las Vegas on Monday night, there were more agents around him. When Trump appeared at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee for the first time since the shooting that same evening, the presence was significantly larger than at his last appearances. Agents maintained a protective barrier between Trump and the crowd, preventing him from greeting his supporters as freely as he usually does.
A demonstration of power, but also an attempt to serene
The visibly increased presence is intended to provide a show of force and additional protection, but is also an attempt to reassure Americans worried about the potential for further violence after the already tense and spiteful 2024 election season turned deadly.
Both Trump and Biden called for unity after the shooting, with Biden repeatedly saying that political violence must be rejected.
The FBI has no clear motive for the shooting and the investigation is ongoing. Biden ordered an independent review of the federal government’s response after questions arose about how the gunman was able to get so close to the stage and why the increased security presence did not prevent the attack.
“This attack reinforces our assessment that election-related targets face an increased threat from attacks or other types of disruptive incidents,” the bulletin said.
Security measures will also be increased at the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago in a few weeks.
The U.S. Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting the president, former presidents, their spouses, some other politicians and major security events, has protocols in place that allow room to adapt security needs at any given moment, such as sending additional agents into the candidate’s circle or beefing up behind-the-scenes operations and deploying additional advance teams that travel ahead to scout sites and test for vulnerabilities.
They are constantly monitoring potential threats. Authorities this week arrested a Florida man who allegedly made comments about wanting to kill Biden. The man’s comments, both online and in person at a mental hospital, were made before the assassination attempt on Trump on Saturday, according to court documents.
Under federal law, former presidents and their spouses are protected by the Secret Service for life. Security measures for former presidents vary depending on the threat level and their level of notoriety. They are usually tightest immediately after they leave office and become less well-known as the years go by—but never stop altogether.
Trump is the first current ex-president to seek another term, and because of his high profile, his security detail has always been larger than that of some of his counterparts. That protective umbrella has tightened even more in recent months as he has become the expected Republican presidential nominee. All major party candidates receive an expanded security apparatus with counter-assault and sniper teams, similar to the president.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Monday that Biden had also ordered protection for Kennedy, whose campaign team had been urging the president for months to provide him with Secret Service protection and had made several requests for it following various incidents.
Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and his father, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, were both assassinated.
Impact of increased security measures on applicants
For Trump, a tighter security protocol could complicate his interactions. He often signs autographs, shakes hands and poses for selfies on runways and at events.
In many of the cities he visits, the campaign gathers supporters in public spaces like restaurants and fast-food outlets. The images and videos of his reception and interactions – shared online by his campaign staff and conservative media – have been vital to his 2024 campaign.
But such events can sometimes get wild. While Trump was in New York for a hush money trial, his staff organized a series of visits to a local corner shop, a local fire station and a construction site.
Before his arrival at the Bodega in Harlem, thousands of supporters and spectators gathered several blocks behind medical barriers to watch and cheer the arrival of his motorcade. But some were frustrated by the visit, including people who were dropped off at a bus stop directly outside the store and others who were trying to get to their apartments after work.
At one point, a resident of the building began yelling from a window directly above the entrance, where Trump would eventually stand to speak to the cameras and answer reporters’ questions.
Biden also often stays long after his events have ended, chatting with people. At a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, last week, he spent nearly an hour in the sun, shaking hands, taking selfies and talking to people up close. Earlier in Philadelphia, he was surrounded by churchgoers crowding the pews hoping to speak to him while his agents monitored the crowd, in some cases pushing people further back.
Biden often talks about how tough it is to interact with the public given security concerns.
“I love the Secret Service,” Biden said last week at a campaign office in Philadelphia. “But I can’t do what I used to do.” He said he often drove and got out to talk to people, but “realistically, I can’t do that anymore. It’s just too dangerous what’s happening out there.”
Iran’s threats
CNN was the first to report details of the threat from Iran.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations described the allegations as “baseless and malicious”.
In a statement obtained by The Associated Press delayed Tuesday, the statement said that while it viewed Trump as a “criminal” who must be brought to justice for ordering Soleimani’s assassination, “Iran has chosen the legal route to bring him to justice.”
Other former senior Trump administration officials are also receiving protection following Soleimani’s assassination. Since taking office, the Biden administration has repeatedly provided around-the-clock protection to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top Iran adviser, Brian Hook, due to credible death threats from Iran.
The last time the State Department extended the protection was on June 21, according to congressional communications obtained by the AP. Since March 2022, the State Department has paid more than $2 million a month to provide round-the-clock security for Pompeo and Hook, although the agency no longer reports cost figures to Congress.
Defense officials who continue to receive protection include then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper, retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, who then headed U.S. Central Command and was in charge of the operation.
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Madhani reported from Las Vegas and Colvin from Milwaukee. Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Zeke Miller, Rebecca Santana and Matthew Lee in Washington and Edith M. Lederer and Jim Mustian in New York contributed to this report.
