Trump security boosted over Iran assassination plot – reports

Officers stand guard as Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman speaks at a news conference after Samuel Sharpe Jr. was shot and killed by five Ohio police officers who were in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention (RNC) on July 16, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Witnesses say that Sharpe, an African American man who lived in a tent camp, was holding a knife before being shot over a dozen times in the back by police who were in the city for the RNC. Security throughout downtown Milwaukee remains high following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump over the weekend. Thousands of delegates, politicians and the Republican faithful are arriving into the traditionally Democratic city over the next few days for the annual convention which will conclude with former President Donald Trump accepting his party’s presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18. Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON — The US Secret Service increased security for Donald Trump weeks ago after authorities learned of an Iranian plot to kill him, although it was not linked to the recent attempt on his life, US media reported Tuesday.

CNN reported that US authorities received intelligence from a “human source” on a plan by Tehran targeting the former president, causing protection to be boosted for Trump. Other US outlets also reported the plot.

But it was not connected to the shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at Trump, leaving the Republican wounded and killing a rally attendee, they said.

READ: Secret Service agrees to independent probe over Trump shooting

The US National Security Council said it had been “tracking Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials for years” as Tehran sought revenge for the 2020 killing of Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani.

“We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority,” spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

The investigation into the Trump shooting on Saturday “has not identified ties between the shooter and any accomplice or co-conspirator, foreign or domestic,” she added.

READ: Bloodied Trump injured in apparent assassination bid

Watson referred questions on “additional measures that have been implemented in recent weeks” to the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security.

Top Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said they and other agencies were “constantly receiving new potential threat information and taking action to adjust resources as needed.”

“We cannot comment on any specific threat stream other than to say that the Secret Service takes threats seriously and responds accordingly,” Guglielmi added in a statement.

There was no immediate reaction from the Department of Homeland Security.

The report comes as the Secret Service faces intense scrutiny over the Butler shooting, with questions over how a gunman was able to open fire at Trump from an exposed rooftop some 150 meters (500 feet) away.

US President Joe Biden has ordered an independent review of the agency’s handling of the incident.