Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has moved from his private home to a military base amid reports of ongoing Iranian threats against top Trump administration officials, multiple news outlets reported this week.
The Iran-linked threats have become more advanced and ultimately prompted Bessent’s move, The New York Times — which reported first on the matter — revealed Tuesday night. Through the Treasury Department, Bessent has levied severe economic pressure on Iran through sanctions and other measures during the monthslong U.S.-Iran war.
Bessent’s move follows several other Trump administration officials’ reported relocations to military bases last year, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Recently promoted White House chief of staff Stephen Miller also left his private residence in Arlington, Virginia, for a military base last fall after activists left messages in chalk and other items criticizing Miller outside of his family’s home.
The Treasury Department and the Secret Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but a Treasury spokesperson told the Times that Bessent “will not be deterred by the Iranian regime’s threats.” It remains unclear which military base Bessent has been moved to.
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As Treasury secretary, Bessent has launched several initiatives, including Operation Economic Fury and Operation Economic Outcast, to crack down on Iran’s ability to finance its own military operations and receive assets from other countries.
“The Iranian regime allows its own people to suffer while it pours resources into terrorism,” Bessent wrote on X in October. “Operation Economic Outcast will not stop until the Iranian regime understands that the Trump Administration will never allow the regime to fund terrorism and develop a nuclear weapon.”
Iran has said the U.S. must lift sweeping sanctions and unfreeze its assets before it will agree to resume high-level negotiations to end the conflict. Although the U.S. has touted the efficacy of its intense economic crackdown, Iranian leaders have remained oppositional, citing past sanctions they allege have failed to cripple the country.
“We have seen this movie before. Same bull. Different bullies,” Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote on X in August, referring to economic pressure campaigns dating to former the Obama administration.
President Donald Trump over the weekend appeared to dismiss the possibility of returning to an all-out war with Iran, telling CNN he believes escalation is “highly unlikely” as long as there is progress through negotiations.
Trump has repeatedly said the war will end soon and that Iran wants to “make a deal, quickly and badly.” However, no direct talks have been held since the failure of negotiations this summer, leaving indirect talks through mediator nations like Qatar as the chief method of communication.
After intense military campaigns and U.S. strikes on Iran in July and September, Trump announced a temporary ceasefire on Oct. 8 until the midterms — but limited, defensive strikes on Iranian targets resumed shortly before Election Day.
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