July 17, 2026

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he was targeted in an alleged assassination plot just two hours after being sworn in, a chilling reminder that political violence is still in play at the highest levels of government. Federal prosecutors say Ryan Michael English, 24, of Massachusetts, showed up at the Capitol on Jan. 27, 2025, armed with a knife and two Molotov cocktails, intending to kill a Cabinet nominee before the Senate vote. English later pleaded guilty to federal charges and is due to be sentenced in August, as Bessent now uses the case to back the Trump administration’s crackdown on violent extremist networks.

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