Secret Service Probes Iran-Linked Video Calling for Melania Trump’s Assassination

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

A video calling for the assassination of First Lady Melania Trump has been published by a media outlet linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with the U.S. Secret Service saying it is aware of the material and investigating anything perceived as a threat.

Tasnim, an IRGC-affiliated news outlet, released the video on its Telegram channel on July 28. The video offered specific suggestions for carrying out an attack against the first lady.

The video, titled “Where to Kill Melania?!,” claims to have information about how her security detail operates and points to possible vulnerabilities and locations where she might be found by would-be assassins. The Epoch Times has reviewed the video but is not reproducing it or detailing its instructions.

Besides encouraging lethal “operations by global freedom fighters” targeting the first lady, the video contains a direct threat against President Donald Trump’s youngest son.

“This is just the beginning,” a voice says near the end of the video. “Barron Trump, wait for us.”

Secret Service Responds

The Secret Service told The Epoch Times that it is aware of the video and reviews material that could pose a threat.

“The Secret Service is aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees,” Nate Herring, a lead public affairs specialist with the agency’s Communications and Media Relations office, said in an emailed statement.

“Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.”

While Herring confirmed that the video was being examined, he did not indicate whether the agency had identified a specific or credible threat.

Calls for Trump’s Death

The video is the latest Iran-linked material to target the president and his family as military tensions between Washington and Tehran continue.

Billboards have appeared in the Iranian capital in recent weeks calling for Trump’s death.

During the funeral procession for slain leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier this month, mourners also carried banners calling for the president’s assassination.

As crowds jostled in Mashhad awaiting Khamenei’s funeral cortege, mourners chanted slogans demanding revenge.

“I swear by the blood of the supreme leader, Trump, we will kill you!” they shouted, while some women held placards reading “Kill Trump.”

Trump has said he has long been at the top of Iran’s target list.

“I’ve been on their list for a long time. That’s what we’re dealing with,” Trump told The New York Post on July 10. “The only thing is, I’ve left instructions—if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they’ve never seen before.”

A day later, Trump said 1,000 U.S. missiles were “locked and loaded” and aimed at Iran, with thousands more ready to follow if the regime assassinated him.

“Orders have already been given, and the U.S. Military is ready, willing, and able,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

History of Iranian Plots

Threats against Trump from Iran predate the latest conflict.

Iranian officials have repeatedly vowed to avenge the January 2020 killing of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, who died in a Trump-ordered U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.

Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qasem Soleimani (C) attends a meeting in Tehran on Sept. 18, 2016. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP

In November 2024, federal prosecutors charged Iranian national Farhad Shakeri over what they described as an IRGC-directed murder-for-hire network targeting people in the United States.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Shakeri told investigators that an IRGC official had instructed him to submit a plan to surveil and kill Trump.

Shakeri, who immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported around 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction, was also accused of using criminal associates to support Iranian surveillance and assassination operations.