Iranian state television has aired a segment appearing to threaten President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump, and citing a 10 million dollar bounty. The U.S. Secret Service says it is investigating the video.
DR reports that the roughly three minute video is in Persian and has no clear sender. It opens with an English-language graphic reading “Where can Barron Trump be killed?” A reward of 10 million dollars, about 64 million kroner, is mentioned.
The Secret Service, which protects the president and his immediate family, is aware of the video. Spokesperson Nate Herring said so in a written response to Reuters. Per Herring, the agency investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward the people it protects.
Herring declined to comment on specific intelligence about Barron Trump’s protection, citing operational security. Reuters summarized the broadcast as discussing a potential plot to assassinate the 20 year old, who is the only child of the president and First Lady Melania Trump.
As reported by DR, the video functions as an overview of Barron Trump’s daily life. It shows graphics and 3D drawings of buildings where he is said to spend time, including his college. It also claims that his Secret Service agents wear student clothing rather than uniforms or suits in order to blend in.
The segment further names people who could be compromised to get close to him. According to the video, the information came from a young woman who met Barron Trump in person at Trump Tower in New York.
What other outlets report
According to CNN, the video was shown in Iran over the weekend on the state-owned broadcaster IRIB. CNN describes the channel as aligned with Iranian hard-liners.
Euronews reports that the footage was released by media linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and broadcast on Channel 3. It translates the title as “Where and how should we kill Barron Trump?” Euronews states that it could not independently verify the bounty or the claims about monitoring.
The Washington Times reports that the segment aired on IRIB TV3 and tracked Barron Trump at New York University. As noted by the outlet, the video included alleged online gaming usernames and named classmates. It adds that the video could not be verified and was not found on IRIB’s social media accounts.
Accounts of the reward differ. Reuters describes the 10 million dollars as an offer for his killing, while Euronews describes it as a reward for anyone able to reach him.
Euronews frames the broadcast as part of a pattern of increasingly personal threats by Iranian state media against the Trump family, amid continued tensions between Iran and the United States. No outlet points to a single event that triggered this particular segment. DR notes that the president has previously spoken about Iranian plans to kill him, and that he changed aircraft after the NATO summit because of a threat.
