Feds Say Michigan Man Threatened to 'Kill Donald Trump With a Gun' and Bomb His Family in Chilling Posts

Federal authorities have arrested and charged James Michael Dewaelsche, a 33-year-old resident of Grand Blanc, Mich., after he allegedly posted social media threats to assassinate President Donald Trump and his family.

According to a federal criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the Secret Service launched an investigation into Dewaelsche after discovering threatening posts on an X account linked to him.

Responding to a NASA image of Trump with the Artemis II crew in the Oval Office, the account posted, "Kill Donald trump with a gun.”

Responding to another NASA post regarding an upcoming aerospace expo, the account stated, "Kill Donald trump's family with bombs.”

Court documents indicate the account also referenced the bombing of U.S. government buildings and made an apparent threat targeting Vice President J.D. Vance's children.

When Secret Service agents interviewed Dewaelsche at his residence, he admitted to making the posts.

Agents noted this was not his first encounter with federal law enforcement; he had previously received scrutiny from the Secret Service for alleged threats involving Trump in 2018 and President Joe Biden in 2024.

"Dewaelsche also stated he was aware that making such threats was a violation of U.S. criminal code and has been advised so in the past, but chooses to continue making threats because he wants to be heard," the criminal complaint states.

Dewaelsche is facing one federal count of making threats against the president and successors to the presidency. He has been ordered held on a $10,000 bond, and his preliminary court hearing is scheduled for October 26.

This wasn’t the first threat thwarted against Trump. In July 2024, a Pakistani national was arrested for orchestrating an Iranian-backed murder-for-hire plot targeting Trump. In November 2024, the Department of Justice disclosed a separate Iranian asset-backed plot targeting Trump.

In February 2026, Secret Service agents fatally shot an armed person who crashed a security vehicle into the Mar-a-Lago perimeter.

Cole Tomas Allen was charged with the attempted assassination of Trump following an armed security breach at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on April 25, 2026.

During his initial 2016 campaign, individuals tried to grab a police officer's gun at a Las Vegas rally and rush the stage at an Ohio event.

In 2017, a man stole a forklift in North Dakota, intending to flip the presidential limousine.

In September 2020, a dual French-Canadian citizen was intercepted after mailing a letter containing deadly ricin to Trump at the White House.

The most famous assassination attempt on the POTUS came when he was campaigning in 2024 in Butler, Penn. A 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired eight shots from a nearby unguarded rooftop about 135 meters away while Trump was speaking, grazing his ear, killing one and seriously injuring another. Crooks was shot and killed at the scene by a Secret Service counter-sniper.