The US secretary of homeland security said on Sunday that Iranian threats against President Donald Trump surface every day in presidential intelligence briefings, and that Trump ranks among the top 10 targets on Tehran's assassination list.
Iran Threat Against Trump
DHS Chief: Trump in Iran's Top 10 Targets
Responding to an Israel Hayom report that Israel warned Washington of an Iranian plan to target Trump with explosive drones, the US Homeland Security secretary said threats from Tehran come up in daily presidential briefings.
The remarks came in response to a report in the Israeli daily Israel Hayom that Israel and the Mossad had passed Washington a specific warning about Iranian plans to target Trump with explosive-laden drones.
Speaking in a special interview, the secretary said the US security establishment had not been surprised by the information, because Iran's intentions are well known to senior security officials in Washington. He said American law enforcement and intelligence agencies are continuously tracking the growing threats from Tehran.
"Every single day, during our presidential briefings, we receive reports of aspirational threats from Iran," he said. "We know that President Trump and his family are the number one target. President Trump is in Iran's top 10 assassination targets, he's in the top 10, and they talk about it all the time."
Addressing the drone technology mentioned in the reports, the secretary said: "This drone technology they're talking about is very aspirational on their part, but we are well prepared inside the United States. We watch this every single day and coordinate it directly with the Pentagon and the Department of Defense."
Asked whether the intelligence Israel shared had told US officials anything new, he stressed the reach of American monitoring. "We are well aware of the threats, and we were aware of them even before they were shared with us," he said. "Sometimes it's chatter, but we take every bit of chatter at face value and with full seriousness, and we always come prepared."
The secretary said that protecting the president, his family and the public is the top priority of the Department of Homeland Security. "That is the heart of our mission, to protect the homeland every single day," he said.
According to Kikar HaShabbat, the secretary's comments lend significant official weight to the original Israeli report and indicate that intelligence tensions over Iranian attempts to harm senior US officials are at an all-time high.
