Secret Service Boss Tells 60 Minutes About ‘Massive Increase’ in Violent Threats During Trump Era: ‘Social Media Changes People’

The head of the U.S. Secret Service told 60 Minutes that there’s been a “massive increase” in violent threats aimed at government officials in 2026 alone.

Twenty-five year veteran Sean Curran sat down with CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell on Sunday, along with deputy director Matthew Quinn.

President Donald Trump promoted Curran to director after he was part of the crew that saved him in Butler, PA. Curran’s predecessor, Kimberly Cheatle, stepped down after the security breach at the 2024 rally killed two people and wounded the president.

“It’s like we’ve never seen before,” Curran told O’Donnell. “The threats on our full-time protectees are up just over 40%…than they were last year. That’s a massive increase.”

Curran said that there have been 10,000 threats just this year on the people the Secret Service has sworn to protect.

“What’s driving that?” O’Donnell asked.

“Look, I think a lot of it has to do with the internet. You know, people are more accessible. Information is more accessible. It’s — it’s definitely new to us,” Curran said.

“President Trump is one of the most polarizing political figures in American history,” O’Donnell said. “Is that in some way leading to the increase in these threats?”

“We are an apolitical organization,” Curran said. “We’re here to protect who we’re sworn to protect.

Quinn added, “Look, I would say there’s people on both sides of the aisle that either love or hate any president. I think the biggest factor we’re dealing with today is mental health issues, for sure. And more people are being pushed over the edge in either direction.”

“The world is different than what it was 20 years ago,” Curran said. “You know, social media changes people.”

O’Donnell asked if more threats came from the left or the right.

“We don’t weigh it that way,” Curran answered. “We just look at, you know, who is, you know, making a threat. We investigate it. And we run it down, each and every threat.”

O’Donnell said that research by the Center for Strategic and International Studies “showed a spike in incidents at the local and national level from the left in 2025.”

“It was the first time left-wing attacks have been higher than right-wing attacks in 30 years,” O’Donnell said, adding, “This year, that trend has reversed, with more attacks coming from the right so far.”

Watch above.

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