Iranian state television has broadcast a video that purports to track the movements of Barron Trump, the 20-year-old son of US President Donald Trump, and claims a $10 million (€8.5 million) bounty has been placed on him. The footage, produced by media affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and aired on Channel 3, is titled "Where and how should we kill Barron Trump?"
The video alleges to show the location of Barron Trump's university, his escort vehicles, and the positioning of his Secret Service detail, asserting that his movements have been "fully monitored." It also claims that a woman managed to bypass security, sat with him in a private meeting, and passed information to the programme's makers. Additionally, it alleges that Barron Trump communicates privately via voice and text on Xbox, away from his security detail. These claims could not be independently verified at the time of publication.
This broadcast follows a similar video released by the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency in July, titled "Where and how is Melania Trump accessible?", which detailed her movements in New York and alleged vulnerabilities in her security. In late May, the New York Post reported on an alleged plot targeting Ivanka Trump. The pattern suggests a deliberate escalation of psychological warfare against the Trump family.
Threats against the president himself
Iranian state media has also issued direct threats against President Trump. In July, a billboard in Tehran's Islamic Revolution Square depicted Trump in a coffin with the words "We will kill Trump" in English. Another video purported to map the route of Trump's motorcade between airports and his homes in Florida and New York. The US Secret Service confirmed it was reviewing the footage.
The animosity dates back to January 2020, when a US drone strike killed IRGC's Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport—an operation Trump authorised during his first term. Iranian officials vowed retaliation at the time and have renewed those pledges repeatedly since. The more recent trigger is the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes on 28 February, which marked the opening salvo of the ongoing war.
Some Iranian state-run media figures have framed personal threats against Trump explicitly through the Islamic legal concept of "qisas" (retributive justice), arguing that the killing of the Islamic Republic's leader creates an obligation to kill the person deemed responsible. Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a commentator on Iranian state television, called qisas the Islamic Republic's "inalienable right." Speaking of those responsible for Khamenei's death, he said, "We will do whatever is in our power, and there is no international legal barrier to stop us."
Mohsen Ghanbarian, another regular on the state broadcaster, echoed this sentiment: "If we do not carry out qisas on Trump, if we do not punish our leader's killer, the current leader and the leaders of the Islamic Republic will always have to live in hiding."
Trump has warned that any attempt on his life would trigger a severe US response. On 20 January, he said that in case of an attempt, "the whole country of Iran will blow up," and that he had issued orders ensuring the US would "wipe the Islamic Republic off the face of the Earth" if the threats were carried out.
The escalation has implications beyond the United States. European allies, particularly those with military bases in the region, are watching closely. Greece has redeployed a Patriot battery to Crete amid reported Iranian threats to US bases, a move that underscores the potential for spillover into European security. Meanwhile, seven EU states have sought Brussels aid for tourism hit by war fears, reflecting the economic anxiety the crisis is causing across the continent.
As the war continues, the threats against the Trump family are likely to remain a tool of psychological pressure. But the unverified nature of the claims, and the lack of any confirmed operational capability, suggest that the broadcast is more about propaganda than imminent action. Still, the US Secret Service has increased its vigilance, and the international community is bracing for further escalation.
