A 29-year-old Illinois man, Michael Kovco, was arrested after he sent multiple threats to the CIA and the White House, allegedly threatening to kill Donald Trump. He also included Barron Trump in his threats.
In one of the messages to the CIA sent on August 15, 2025, he wrote, “Please make a clear line of fire from the White House to Marine One on the president’s next departure from the garden.” The Department of Justice’s federal complaint revealed this.
As reported by Law &Crime, he later sent more threats on March 17, 2026, to the White House. Here, he wrote, “I’m going to take a serrated knife and saw Barron Trump’s head off after I successfully stake out the president of the United States with a high-caliber sniper rifle permanently aimed at the White House lawn from a local vantage point.”
Man’s vile threat to Donald Trump and son Barron that caught the attention of Secret Service officers https://t.co/8NAJDW6vr2
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) April 11, 2026
He further added, “I have absolutely every intent of plotting and carrying out an active assassination attempt against the President of the United States of America. This is a serious threat.”
On March 19, Kovco again made threatening statements. He stated, “I intend to purchase a high-caliber assault rifle with a large magazine and assemble several improvised explosive devices within my home…and leave them in several key places around Washington DC until I get justice for my r— from the US government.”
Talking about Barron, Kovco also mentioned, “I’m literally gonna find out how Barron Trump walks around in NYC or DC or wherever the f— he is and run at him with a serrated bread knife and saw that motherf—ers head off.”
As reported by The Hill, the man threatened to kill Secret Service agents as well.
He sent an electronic message that read, “I’m gonna hunt the Secret Service agent that comes to my door’s family so he better not tell me any identifying information at all like first or last name or pet name or address or place of work because im going to buy a small concealable firearm and go shoot up his place of work immediately if he tells me anything.”
Kovco sent this two hours after a Secret Service agent and two Secret Service task force officers visited him on March 19 to ask about his prior threats.
A deranged Chicago man, Michael Kovco, threatened to decapitate Barron Trump with a serrated knife and assassinate the president, federal prosecutors say.https://t.co/SlXncOQ1dj
— tomwellborn3rd (@TomWellborn3) April 10, 2026
The message referencing Barron was signed, “Mr. I’m going to [expletive] kill your child. Kovco.”
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros said in a news release, “It is never acceptable to threaten a law enforcement officer, political figure or a member of their family.”
Boutros added, “Under my watch, political violence will be dealt with as the serious federal crime that it is.”
Kovco was arrested on April 3 and charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, Law & Crime reported. If he is convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
