Trump blasts former FBI director James Comey over controversial Instagram post
Waleed Zein/Anadolu via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump lashed out Friday against ex-FBI director James Comey over an Instagram post that contained an image that top Trump officials claimed was a threat.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Comey showed a photo of “8647” written in seashells in sand, with the caption “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Some far-right allies of President Trump, including Laura Loomer, have alleged that Comey is calling for violence against President Trump.
To “86” something, however, has fairly broad interpretations as a slang term — and can simply mean to nix or “get rid”of’ something.
Comey says he figured the message was political, but didn’t realize it called for violence against Trump.
“It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind,” Comey said in another post on Instagram.
Trump, however, told Fox News Friday that he wasn’t buying Comey’s explanation.
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination,” the president said.
Trump fired Comey in his first administration and the president claimed Comey still had an axe to grind.
“Well, he apologized because he was hit — he’s a very bad guy,” Trump said.
The president did not take a position on whether or not Comey should be investigated, but deferred to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday in an X post that the U.S. Secret Service is looking into Comey’s post.
“Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of @POTUS Trump,” she said.
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that he expects President Donald Trump to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week on tariffs.
“President Trump, we expect, is going to have a wonderful conversation about the trade negotiations this week with President Xi. That’s our expectation,” Hassett told anchor George Stephanopoulos on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.
Currently, China has a 30% tariff level for goods coming into the U.S., which is reduced from the original 145% Trump levied. A 90-day reprieve from the 145% tariffs was given with the intent that the two countries would negotiate a wider trade deal.
Hassett said he was unsure of the exact date the two leaders would plan to speak to each other.
“I’m not sure, George, because you never know in international relations, but my expectation is that both sides have expressed a willingness to talk. And I’d like to also add that people are talking every day, so [U.S. Trade Representative] Jamieson Greer, his team and President Xi’s team in China, they’re talking every day trying to move the ball forward on this matter.”
Trump’s tariffs have faced a number of court challenges. An appeals court reinstated Trump’s tariffs this week after a Wednesday court order blocked them. The appeals court decision stands for the time being.
The block on the tariffs came after the Court of International Trade decided that the administration’s evocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not give the president the right to set “unlimited” tariffs. The Trump administration argued that the court order may harm their progress in negotiations.
Here are more highlights from Hassett’s interview:
Hassett on the legal challenges to tariffs
Stephanopoulos: Are you confident the Supreme Court is going to uphold these tariffs? What happens if they don’t?
Hassett: Right. Well, one of the things we’ve been doing all the way back until 2017, when I used to speak with you on the show last time, George, is that we’ve studied every possible way that President Trump’s tariff agenda could be pursued. And Jamieson Greer, the best trade lawyer in the business, came down and said the IEPA pursuit that we’re pursuing is the fastest, and it’s the way that’s the most legally sound.
And so we’re very thrilled. We are very confident that the judges will uphold this law. And so I think that’s Plan A. And we’re very, very confident that Plan A is all we’re ever going to need. But if, for some reason, some judge were to say that it’s not a national emergency when more Americans die from fentanyl than have ever died in all American wars combined, that’s not an emergency that the president has authority over, if that ludicrous statement is made by a judge somewhere, then we’ll have other alternatives that we can pursue as well to make sure that we make America trade fair again.
On possible deals this week
Stephanopoulos: Where are we exactly? When will we see an actual agreement? Will we see any this week?
Hassett: I expected that we were going to probably see one perhaps as early as last week. And I think that one of the things that’s happened is that the trade team has been focused 100 percent like a laser beam on the China matter, to make sure that there are no supply disruptions because these licenses are coming a little slower than we would like. And so, we’ve been focused like a laser beam on that last week, and the presidents, we expect, will discuss the matter this week. Once that thing’s resolved, then we’re going to take deals into the Oval that Jamieson Greer and Howard Lutnick have negotiated.
Hassett on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
Stephanopoulos: Facing numerous challenges to the bill in the Senate right now from both the right and the left, are you confident that the president’s deadline is going to be met?
Hassett: Deadlines are deadlines, right? So, the one thing I could say is that we’re 100 percent confident that this bill is going to pass because in the end, the senators who are worried about the bill understand that you’re going to cast the economy into recession and vote for the biggest tax hike in history if you vote against the bill.
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status for approximately 350,000 Venezuelans who were protected from deportation and allowed to work in the United States.
The court approved the administration’s request to lift a lower court’s order that barred it from ending the protections.
In their application to the high court, lawyers representing the government had said the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California undermined “the Executive Branch’s inherent powers as to immigration and foreign affairs,” when it halted the administration from ending protections and work permits in April 2025 as opposed to the original date in October 2026.
Ahilan Arulanantham, who is representing TPS holders in the case, said he believes this to be “the largest single action stripping any group of non-citizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history.”
“This is the largest single action stripping any group of non-citizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history. That the Supreme Court authorized this action in a two-paragraph order with no reasoning is truly shocking,” Arulanantham said. “The humanitarian and economic impact of the Court’s decision will be felt immediately, and will reverberate for generations.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Senators will be briefed by law enforcement on Tuesday on safety and security after the murder of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and the wounding of another and his wife on Saturday.
House Republicans held a conference call, which was described as “tense,” on Saturday with the House sergeant at arms and U.S. Capitol Police to discuss their concerns, multiple sources familiar with the call told ABC News. Several Republicans said on the one-hour call that they feel unsafe in their home districts and want more protection, sources said.
The key source of contention in particular was the request of police outside their homes at all times and law enforcement authorities saying they need more funding from Congress to provide that.
Senators will be briefed by the Senate sergeant at arms and Capitol Police on Tuesday morning, two sources familiar told ABC News, after it was requested by Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
House Democrats are expected to have a similar call in the coming days. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement Saturday that he asked the sergeant at arms and Capitol Police to “ensure the safety” of the Minnesota delegation and members of Congress “across the country.”
While House and Senate leadership are provided with a security detail, rank-and-file members are not routinely protected unless there is a specific threat.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday that political violence is a “rampant problem.” Fellow Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith told NBC News on Sunday, “I don’t want to think that I have to a personal security detail everywhere I go, but I think we really have to look at the situation that we’re in.
“This is no way for our government to work when people, any number of us, feel this kind of threat,” she said.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz said he might force a vote on a “secret session” in the House to discuss security and so that “members can handle this ourselves.”
Vance Boelter, 57, faces multiple federal charges in the killing of Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in “political assassinations,” acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Joseph Thompson said Monday.
In a 20-page affidavit, prosecutors outlined how they say Boelter “embarked on a planned campaign of stalking and violence, designed to inflict fear, injure and kill members of the Minnesota state legislature and their families.” He allegedly had firearms and a list of 45 elected officials, “mostly or all Democrats,” according to prosecutors. Authorities say Boelter traveled to the homes of at least four public officials during the early morning hours of Saturday before the killings.
Michigan Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten on Monday postponed a town hall event after learning she was “on a list connected to the recent tragic shooting in Minnesota.”
“Out of an abundance of caution and to not divert additional law enforcement resources away from protecting the broader public at this time, this is the responsible choice,” Scholten said in a statement.
Ohio Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman also said he was told by Capitol Police that his name was on the suspect’s list and that the Cincinnati Police Department quickly increased security for him and his family over the weekend.
Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan told ABC News that he and fellow Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore were both named in the suspect’s writings. Pocan, who represents the Madison area, said he was notified by law enforcement on Sunday and “that was it” — there was no change to the posture of his personal security.
The number of threats and “concerning statements” against members of Congress, their families and staffs has risen for the past two years, according to Capitol Police, which pointed out that threats tend to increase during election years. The Capitol Police’s Threat Assessment Section investigated 9,474 threats and statements in 2024 and 8,008. It investigated 3,939 cases in 2017.
ABC News’ Isabella Murray and John Parkinson contributed to this report.
