Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has revealed that he was the target of an assassination attempt just two hours after being sworn into office, citing the incident as evidence of a growing threat from violent left-wing extremists.
Bessent made the statement at the State Department's Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, pushing back against critics who have questioned the Trump administration's focus on far-left extremist groups.
He referenced a 2025 incident involving a Massachusetts man, Ryan Michael English, who pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate the then-Treasury secretary nominee at the U.S. Capitol.
English, 24, traveled to Washington carrying a knife and two improvised Molotov cocktails, and approached a U.S. Capitol Police officer to turn himself in. Prosecutors said he had come to the Capitol intending to kill a Cabinet nominee or burn down a think tank.
English pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful receipt and possession of a firearm, and carrying a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds. He is scheduled to be sentenced in August.
Bessent's comments come as the Trump administration seeks to build international cooperation against what it describes as a resurgence of violent far-left extremism.
The State Department summit aims to bring together representatives from around 65 countries to address this growing threat.
