The Numbers Are In: U.S. Secret Service Official Says Threats Have Reached An All-Time High

A senior U.S. Secret Service official said Wednesday that the “threat environment” for the agency’s protectees, who include President Donald Trump, “is the highest we’ve ever seen.”

“What we’re seeing now is something I’ve never seen before,” said the senior official, who spoke to reporters at a background briefing on the condition that they not be identified by name before a public briefing.

There have been about 10,000 cases involving threats to government officials, including Supreme Court justices, so far in 2026, the official said, according to a pool report of the briefing by MS NOW. That represents a 40% increase in such cases over the same period last year.

“They’re increasing in volume and complexity,” the official said, a week after Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told a House subcommittee that the threat level to her and other federal judges “is really high.”

The Secret Service has seen the number of mental health committals of people suspected of making threats to protectees spike by a factor of 10, according to the official.

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Secret Service Director Sean Curran spoke Wednesday on the security measures for the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner this week.

"We do expect bad people to show up. It's just a reality of where we are," he said. "But we're treating it no different than any other… pic.twitter.com/6DYxUT4V98

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 22, 2026

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U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said the current threat environment is the most challenging he’s ever seen.

“The numbers at this agency, and certainty I’ve never seen in my 24-year-career, they’re off the charts,” Curran said in response to a question from ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas at a media briefing on Wednesday.

“I think the environment has become very volatile and that’s just across the board, not just to our protectees but local officials. The threat picture and environment is as large as I’ve ever seen it,” Curran said.

Secret Service officials noted they have had 10 times the number of mental health committals than that of the previous year.

Ahead of Friday’s rescheduled White House correspondents’ dinner, Curran said they are taking everything into account, including an analysis of how buildings might survive explosions at the site.

A shooting upended the annual gathering at the Washington Hilton hotel on April 25. Cole Allen, 31, has been accused of trying to assassinate Trump. Allen has pleaded not guilty. The dinner is rescheduled for this coming Friday at a different hotel in Washington, D.C.

Agents from the United States Secret Service deal with all manner of threats from at home and abroad, including Iran.

“I don’t think it’s any secret, it’s been in the media, that Iran has publicly said they want to kill President Trump,” deputy director Matt Quinn told reporters.

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