President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo/Alex Brandon).
A 33-year-old man in Michigan is accused of threatening to assassinate the first family, allegedly calling for President Donald Trump to be killed "with a gun" and his family members to be taken out "with bombs" in two social media posts.
Federal authorities arrested James Michael Dewaelsche, who is charged with one count of making threats against the president and successors to the presidency, court documents show.
According to a criminal complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the U.S. Secret Service began investigating Dewaelsche on Sept. 7, 2026, after agents spotted several posts on an X (formerly Twitter) account linked to him.
The posts allegedly concerned killing Trump and his family as well as "the bombing of U.S. government buildings."
Investigators said the account first responded to a post from NASA showing a photo of Trump with the crew of the Artemis II in the Oval Office by stating, "Kill Donald trump with a gun."
The account then responded to a NASA post about the upcoming MAX POWER aerospace expo by writing, "Kill Donald trump's family with bombs."
The account also responded to Vice President JD Vance's Labor Day post with an apparent threat to his children.
The Secret Service obtained subscriber information identifying an email address tied to the account and traced it to a residential internet address owned by AT&T. Records from AT&T identified the subscriber as Dewaelsche, who lived in Grand Blanc, Michigan, according to the complaint.
The investigation also revealed Dewaelsche had previously been the subject of Secret Service attention over threats against then-President Trump in 2018 and then-President Joe Biden in 2024, the complaint states.
On Sept. 8, Secret Service agents interviewed Dewaelsche at his Grand Blanc residence, where he allegedly "admitted to making the threats on X."
"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.
The complaint does not allege that Dewaelsche carried out any physical attack against Trump or his family. Instead, federal prosecutors allege that the online statements violated the federal law prohibiting threats against the president and successors to the presidency.
Dewaelsche appeared in court Monday, and a judge ordered him held on a $10,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 26, records show.