Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday he was the target of an assassination attempt by a left-wing activist just two hours after being sworn into office, citing the case as evidence that violent political extremism from the left is a real and growing threat.
Speaking at the State Department's Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, Bessent pushed back against critics who have questioned the Trump administration's focus on violent far-left extremist groups. The summit gathered representatives from roughly 65 countries to discuss international cooperation against what the administration describes as a resurgence of violent political terrorism.
"I'm going to remind everyone in this room — and all the media — that I was the subject of an assassination attempt by an addled left-wing activist two hours after being sworn into my job," Bessent said. "Any of you who want to report that this is a fiction and does not exist, be there for the sentencing this August."
Bessent appeared to be referring to Ryan Michael English, a 24-year-old Massachusetts man who pleaded guilty in March to charges related to attempting to assassinate the then-Treasury secretary nominee at the U.S. Capitol.
What the Right Is Saying
Administration officials argue that violent extremism cannot be addressed through false equivalence between left and right-wing threats. They point to specific cases like the English prosecution as evidence that threats against Cabinet nominees are real and require serious response.
Conservative commentators have echoed Bessent's remarks, arguing that mainstream media coverage has been dismissive of violence connected to progressive political movements while amplifying incidents involving right-wing actors. Some Republican lawmakers have called for enhanced security protocols for senior executive branch officials during the confirmation process.
The State Department gathering reflected the administration's view that international cooperation is necessary to address what it describes as a coordinated resurgence in politically motivated violence across Western democracies, with particular attention to groups operating under anti-fascist or anarchist banners.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive critics and some Democratic lawmakers have argued that the Trump administration's emphasis on left-wing extremism diverts attention from what they describe as a more significant threat from far-right groups. They note that FBI assessments and academic research on domestic terrorism have consistently identified right-wing extremist movements as responsible for a larger share of politically motivated violence in recent decades.
Some Democrats have also pointed to the administration's rhetoric around immigration, election integrity, and institutional trust as potentially inflammatory. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee, has previously argued that political violence must be addressed without selective focus that ignores extremism from any point on the ideological spectrum.
Civil liberties organizations have cautioned against conflating protest activity with political terrorism, arguing that such language can chill protected First Amendment expression and be used to justify expanded government surveillance of activist groups.
What the Numbers Show
Ryan Michael English traveled to Washington on Jan. 27, 2025, carrying a folding knife and two improvised Molotov cocktails before approaching a U.S. Capitol Police officer and asking to turn himself in, according to Justice Department court filings.
Prosecutors said English admitted he had come to the Capitol intending to kill a Cabinet nominee whose Senate confirmation vote was scheduled that day or burn down a Washington think tank. Investigators recovered a note in which he allegedly wrote, in part, "This is terrible but I cant do nothing while nazis kill my sisters."
English pleaded guilty in March to one count of unlawful receipt, possession and transfer of a firearm and one count of carrying a dangerous weapon on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. He faces up to 15 years in federal prison and is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 14.
Before becoming Treasury secretary, Bessent spent years at Soros Fund Management, serving as the firm's chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015 after earlier helping lead its London office. Following his departure, he launched Key Square Capital Management with backing from George Soros, the billionaire investor and Democratic megadonor who has frequently been a target of criticism from Trump and other conservatives.
The FBI's annual hate crime statistics for recent years have documented thousands of incidents annually, though categorizing politically motivated violence by ideological motivation involves methodological challenges that complicate direct comparisons between left and right-wing threats.
The Bottom Line
Bessent's remarks at the international summit represent a sustained effort by the administration to frame political violence as primarily emanating from left-wing sources. The August sentencing hearing for English will provide an opportunity for both sides to revisit the specific circumstances of the alleged plot against Bessent, which remains central to his argument about the reality of threats from progressive extremism.
Critics on the left maintain that any honest accounting of domestic terrorism must account for violence across the ideological spectrum without selective emphasis. The debate reflects broader disagreements over how government resources should be allocated and what rhetoric constitutes appropriate political discourse.
International observers at the State Department summit are watching how the United States balances civil liberties protections with security measures, as similar debates about political polarization and extremism are playing out in democracies across Europe and North America.