WASHINGTON, D.C. – An Iran-linked media organization published a disturbing video encouraging the assassination of First Lady Melania Trump, identifying supposed vulnerabilities in her security and ending with a direct threat against her 20-year-old son, Barron Trump.
The U.S. Secret Service has confirmed that it is aware of the video and is investigating the material. Nevertheless, the story has received little attention from many of the largest American news organizations.
The video, titled “Where to Kill Melania?!,” was distributed through the Telegram channel of Iran’s Tasnim News Agency in late July. It uses AI-generated imagery, English subtitles and information about locations in New York City that Melania Trump has reportedly visited.
The video attempts to turn the first lady’s interest in fashion into a security vulnerability. It identifies stores she is said to frequent and suggests possible methods of attacking her. It also calls on what it describes as “global freedom fighters” to carry out an operation.
The video concludes with an unmistakable threat against the president’s youngest son: “Barron Trump, wait for us.”
Although the production claims some of its information came from anonymous security networks and satellite imagery, news organizations that reviewed the footage said much of the material appeared to be publicly available. There is no public evidence that the producers obtained classified information or penetrated the first lady’s protective detail.
That qualification does not make the video harmless. It was not posted by an unidentified social media user or an obscure online provocateur.
Tasnim’s connection to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
The U.S. Department of the Treasury describes Tasnim as an Iranian state-controlled media outlet founded by two commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to Treasury, those executives have continued to control the organization on behalf of the IRGC.
The United States sanctioned Tasnim News Agency in 2023, stating that it had supported the IRGC and other Iranian government agencies. Treasury specifically described Tasnim as being owned or controlled by, or acting on behalf of, the Revolutionary Guard.
That documented relationship supports describing the assassination video as Iran-linked or IRGC-linked. It does not, based on presently available evidence, establish that Iran’s senior political leadership personally ordered its production.
The distinction is important, but so is the source. This was violent propaganda circulated by a sanctioned organization that the U.S. government says operates under the control of Iran’s most powerful military institution.
Secret Service confirms investigation
“The Secret Service is aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees,” agency spokesperson Nate Herring told People.
The agency declined to discuss protective intelligence or any security measures connected to the investigation. It also has not publicly said whether investigators consider the video evidence of a specific, actionable assassination plot.
The lack of such a determination should be reported clearly. The video is a confirmed threat, but authorities have not announced that an operational plot against Melania or Barron Trump has been discovered.
Iran’s history of alleged assassination planning inside the United States, however, gives the propaganda a more serious context.
In November 2024, the Justice Department charged an alleged IRGC asset who authorities said had been tasked with developing a plan to assassinate Donald Trump. Federal prosecutors previously charged an IRGC member with attempting to arrange the murder of former national security adviser John Bolton.
Those cases involved criminal allegations and should not be conflated with the new propaganda video. They do demonstrate why threats originating from an IRGC-controlled organization cannot simply be dismissed as internet trolling.
A noticeable gap in national coverage
The video was covered by the New York Post, People, The Independent, The Times of London and numerous Sinclair-affiliated local television websites. The Middle East Media Research Institute also published a translated account of the video.
But as of August 1, searches of major news websites and indexed coverage did not locate comparable standalone reporting from the Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times or The Washington Post.
The Secret Service confirmed that it was aware of the video and was investigating the material, but the agency has not publicly disclosed whether it determined that the video represented a specific operational plot.
