How Iranian Threats Against Donald Trump Rattled His 2024 Campaign

In 2022, Donald Trump’s political team weighed traveling to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest, Hungary.

But as the president’s top political aide Susie Wiles explained to multiple people later in the campaign, Trump did not end up attending the conservative confab in person because senior aides believed the Secret Service couldn’t keep him safe from the threat of Iranian retaliation for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander killed in a Trump-ordered U.S. airstrike in 2020. Rather than risk serious security lapses on this overseas trip, Trump’s team played it safe. He greeted conference attendees via video-message instead.

About the Author

Audrey Fahlberg

Audrey Fahlberg was a politics reporter for National Review.

Featured Tags

In 2022, Donald Trump’s political team weighed traveling to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest, Hungary.

But as the president’s top political aide Susie Wiles explained to multiple people later in the campaign, Trump did not end up attending the conservative confab in person because senior aides believed the Secret Service couldn’t keep him safe from the threat of Iranian retaliation for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander killed in a Trump-ordered U.S. airstrike in 2020. Rather than risk serious security lapses on this overseas trip, Trump’s team played it safe. He greeted conference attendees via video-message instead.