Former president Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NewsNation Thursday after his security team alerted him to possible danger. This is the latest security threat against Trump as he runs for president for a third time.
“Can I tell you something? We’re in danger standing here talking,” Trump said to NewsNation reporter Ali Bradley mid-interview, the network reported. “So let’s not talk any longer.”
Trump cuts interview with @NewsNation @AliBradleyTV short citing safety concerns.
“We’re in danger standing here talking, so let’s not talk any longer,” said Trump. “No, I know about it, but they don’t want me standing here. They don’t want you standing here either.“ pic.twitter.com/2S6Mb8ZNqd
— Libbey Dean (@LibbeyDean_) August 22, 2024
Trump, speaking to Bradley at the southern border, warned her that she was also in danger before he ended the interview.
“[Security] doesn’t want me standing here. They don’t want you standing here either,” Trump told her.
The security issue took place a day after Arizona law enforcement agencies conducted a manhunt to track down a man who threatened to kill Trump, the sheriff for Arizona’s Cochise County said in a social media announcement. Law enforcement wanted the suspect on several outstanding warrants for driving under the influence and failing to register as a sex offender.
“This subject has been taken into custody without incident in Cochise County. We appreciate all of the information received and the incredible collaborative efforts with all of our public safety partners,” the Cochise County sheriff’s office said.
During the NewsNation interview, Trump and Bradley discussed the possibility of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsing him after he suspends his presidential campaign. Kennedy is expected to announce Friday his decision to drop out of the presidential race, and Trump seemed to welcome the prospect of a Kennedy endorsement.
In July, Trump was wounded on his right ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate him from a nearby rooftop. Crooks’s shooting rampage killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore and wounded two others at the rally. A Secret Service sniper returned fire, killing Crooks seconds after he began firing into the crowd.
The assassination attempt on Trump is one of the most significant security failures in American history and remains the subject of multiple ongoing investigations. In the wake of the attempt on his life, Trump held an outdoor campaign rally Wednesday with a bulletproof glass encasement around him for protection.
Separately, Iran continues to target Trump and other U.S. officials involved with the Trump administration’s successful drone strike on top general Qasem Soleimani four years ago.
Earlier this month, federal authorities unsealed a criminal complaint against an Pakistani national who plotted to hire hitmen to carry out a planned assassination of Trump. He was arrested on July 12, the day before Crooks’s assassination attempt, but the two events are unrelated.
The suspect has personal ties to Iran and visited the country soon before he came to the U.S. and began devising his plan to take Trump’s life. Iran has also attempted to interfere in the 2024 presidential election by using phishing scams to hack Trump’s presidential campaign and target the Biden-Harris campaign.