Trump family under siege: Extreme Secret Service overhaul after Ivanka 'revenge plot' nightmare... bitter private suffering of 'missing' Barron and Melania... and inside teen Kai's hell

By NICK ALLEN, US NEWS EDITOR (POLITICS) Published: 18:50, 3 June 2026 | Updated: 18:55, 3 June 2026 Perhaps nothing sums up the harsh reality of being a member of the Trump family than a request 19-year-old Kai Trump recently made to a court in Palm Beach. In asking for a restraining order against a new stalker, Kai asked the judge to move a hearing. '(It's) My last day of high school. I can't leave until 3.00 pm. Please reschedule for the following Thursday.' Gabriel Garza Jr., a 26-year-old homeless man, was subsequently banned from going within 500 ft of Kai's home, any event she is at, and the University of Miami, and was ordered to surrender all firearms. Last year, another man, Anthony Reyes, 23, was arrested by the Secret service after scaling a wall at Mar-a-Lago in the middle of the night in an attempt to get to her. Last month, Ivanka Trump faced an even more chilling threat as it emerged a lieutenant of the late Iranian military chief Qassem Soleimani, who her father terminated by drone in 2020, had published a map of the first daughter's Florida compound and was reportedly plotting to kill her. Her brother Donald Trump Jr's recent wedding to Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas had to be patrolled by a small army of Secret Service agents. And, the same day as the wedding, a gunman was shot dead after opening fire outside the White House, sending reporters scrambling for cover. That came only weeks after a would-be assassin tried to shoot President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, which was the third attempt on his life. In February, another gunman was taken down after trying to breach the perimeter at Mar-a-Lago. Now, sources have told the Daily Mail that the current security challenge involving the first family - spurred by online hate and the Iran war - is unprecedented in the 160-year history of the Secret Service. Kai Trump and Ivanka Trump at Donald Trump Jr's wedding to Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas. Security was 'insane,' a source told the Daily Mail The agency has thrown up a ring of steel around the Trumps but faces logistical challenges - and growing costs - due to the number of protectees involved. The President has five children who all qualify for protection as 'immediate family' under Title 18 Section 3056 of the United States Code, which governs the Secret Service. Meanwhile, it is not known what Melania Trump thinks about the current heightened security situation, but there has been speculation her main concern, as always, is for her son Barron. It was noticeable that Melania and Barron did not attend the recent wedding. Nor were they at Kai's recent graduation dinner in Florida. There has also been speculation that the security situation is leading to a reluctance to gather too many Trumps in one place, and unconfirmed reports that it is creating a distance between Barron and his half-siblings, all of whom are much older, as he is kept out of the limelight. The Iran war has also added to the problems. Last month, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, 32, appeared in court in New York, charged with six terrorism-related offenses. Although he has not been charged with it, he was reportedly plotting to target Ivanka Trump. Al-Saadi had published online a plan of the $24 million compound where Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner live. Alongside it he wrote a threat in Arabic which said: 'I say to the Americans look at this picture and know that neither your palaces nor the Secret Service will protect you. We are currently in the stage of surveillance and analysis. I told you, our revenge is a matter of time.' Members of the US Secret Service Counter Assault Team on duty near Washington DC According to the Justice Department, Al-Saadi, an operative of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had already coordinated a wave of nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks in Europe and the US, including against synagogues, and was 'responsible for global mass terrorism.' The indictment included a photograph of him speaking with Soleimani at a military facility as the pair looked at maps. Entifadh Qanbar, former deputy military attache at the Iraqi embassy in Washington, told Newsmax: 'This guy was basically personally trained and prepared by Qassem Soleimani to prepare suicide and terror attacks all over the world, including London and New York, and targeting Ivanka Trump. He knows the president very much loves his daughter.' Ivanka was at her brother's wedding on a private island, along with Eric and Tiffany and their spouses and several of Trump's 11 grandchildren. The location was kept secret for security reasons, but news leaked out and there ended up being nearly as many Secret Service agents on the island as wedding guests, according to one source. In the lead-up, President Trump joked: 'If I do attend, I get killed. If I don't attend, I get killed... by the fake news, of course, I'm talking about.' The same day as the wedding, on May 23, gunman Nasire Best, 21, approached a White House entrance and started firing at Secret Service agents, who shot him dead. Lara Trump shares a picture from Donald Trump Jr's wedding to Bettina Anderson. Although Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama were targeted by hate mobs during their time as first ladies, it had generally been accepted that children were off limits when it came to partisan political attacks. But, increasingly, Trump's children have been targeted with hate. A passenger was thrown off a flight for angrily verbally accosting Ivanka, who had to distract her children with toys. Eric was spat at by a waitress in a Chicago restaurant. He declined to press charges. And, while there are numerous reports and studies detailing the impact on society of President's Trump's online rhetoric, there appears to have been no research done on how often his children are targeted by others. A cursory look at social media would suggest the one targeted most is Don Jr, who has become a prominent surrogate for his father. According to a recent YouGov survey, 50 percent of Americans believe the rhetoric of Trump's political opponents has 'some' or a 'great deal' of responsibility for the assassination attempts against him. And 64 percent believe he is more at risk of assassination attempts than other presidents. The Secret Service is asking for increased funding to protect President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump Much of the rhetoric against members of Trump's family has been fueled by left-wing celebrities. Among the most despicable social media posts was one from the late actor Peter Fonda in 2018, which said: 'We should rip Barron Trump from his mother's arms and put him in a cage with pedophiles.' In rants targeting Ivanka and Don Jr in 2019, the singer Cher wrote: 'First family who commits treason together stays together or stays out of prison together. Not one of them worth a damn.' Having served in her father's first administration, Ivanka Trump ultimately decided not to return in the second. 'Now, I'm in a new section of my life,' she told podcaster David Senra this week. 'I know for me that the first time around, I could theoretically imagine (public service) would be intense. 'But now I know how intense it is, I know that you can't dabble, and I know that my children really need me there for them. And I'm not willing to make them bear the sacrifice of serving again.' Ivanka will still require protection, though, as will her siblings. Ivanka Trump was reportedly the target of an Iranian plot Barron Trump and first lady Melania Trump stayed in Washington for Donald Trump Jr's wedding  This year, the Secret Service budget reached $3.5 billion, much of it for protecting the Trumps. Next year, the service plans a new hiring spree, adding 852 personnel, including 520 special agents, according to documents linked to its proposed 2027 budget. Much of that is aimed at expanding protection of the president and his family. The service also wants to add 256 uniformed division officers to boost security at venues used by those with protective details. 'The agency is currently engaged in an accelerated hiring posture to address mission-critical needs, including expanded protective assignments, increased investigative workload, and evolving threat environments,' the documents say. Those evolving threats include drones, and President Trump recently suggested putting a defensive 'DronePort' on top of his planned White House ballroom. Meanwhile, the Secret Service is also seeking highly skilled personnel with expertise in cyber investigations and digital forensics. 'As adversaries increasingly employ sophisticated methods, the need for specialized technical staff has grown substantially,' it said. The latest budget request also includes $91 million for the 2028 presidential campaign Security measures were already increased after President Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, and again a few months later when an armed man was spotted in the bushes at West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing. Experts said it would be ramped up again after the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting. 'We've seen upping since Butler, we've seen upping since the golf course, and I think you're going to see upping now because we need to,' Bobby McDonald, a retired 20-year Secret Service agent told the Daily Mail. Secret service agents respond during the White House Correspondents' Dinner assination attempt 'More people and more things isn't always the only answer, but I think you're going to see a huge increase in the type of tools and assets and personnel that are going to be used at various events.' One of the key measures that may emerge is fewer joint events involving Trump, Vice President JD Vance and members of the Cabinet, McDonald said. Another security measure that may be seen more going forward is putting President Trump behind bullet proof glass, even if he is indoors. 'I think the Secret Service now is going to have to reset itself a little bit, like it did after Butler two years ago, to start to expand its perimeters, to start to expand its need for more personnel at events.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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