Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused the WSJ’s editor-in-chief of “reckless journalism” for authorizing a photograph of his Washington, D.C., home that he said exposed its location.
During an appearance on “Sunday Morning Futures,” Bessent declined to say whether he had faced an assassination attempt but said the threats were serious enough to force his family to relocate to a military base.
“Obviously, it’s a high threat level for us to move,” he told Larry Kudlow. “And sadly, one of the reasons we had to move is because Emma Tucker, the news editor at The Wall Street Journal, authorized a photo of our house the day we bought it that had a geolocate on it. And so you can go on the Internet and see our beautiful residence [where] we made our home here in D.C. because of reckless journalism.”
TRUMP’S TOP OFFICIALS RETREAT BEHIND MILITARY GATES AS EX-FBI DEPUTY POINTS TO WHAT’S FUELING THREATS
Threats against Bessent had reached “more than an advanced stage” amid reported Iranian assassination threats, a senior administration official told Digital.
Bessent is the latest senior administration official to relocate to a military installation, joining a growing number of top Trump officials living behind military gates as federal authorities confront security threats that extend well beyond the White House.
ANOTHER TRUMP HEAVYWEIGHT REVEALED TO BE LIVING ON MILITARY BASE AS CABINET ROSTER GROWS
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have reportedly taken up residence at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., while White House chief of staff Stephen Miller and other administration officials have moved to military installations or protected government housing. Attorney General Todd Blanche also moved to a military base earlier this year, a source familiar with the arrangement told Digital.
The relocations have not all stemmed from the same threats. Some followed concerns about domestic political violence, while Bessent’s move comes amid reported threats linked to Iran.
The recent Iranian threats against Bessent come amid a documented history of alleged Tehran-backed assassination plots targeting senior U.S. officials.
The Justice Department charged a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2022 in an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting former Trump national security advisor John Bolton, while prosecutors disclosed in 2024 that another Iranian operative had allegedly been tasked with developing a plan to assassinate Trump.
Digital’s Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this report.