US Treasury chief Scott Bessent moves onto military base over Iranian death threats
13 aircraft leave RAF Mildenhall at second-highest alert level, third cabinet member now lives in military housing while Rubio insists sanctions make attacks unnecessary
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Rubio tells Iran: 'You do bad things, bad things will happen to you'
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U.S. Air Force KC-135
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RAF base in England
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raf fairford main gate
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gestures while speaking at the U.S.-China Relations Gala Dinner on Tuesday in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent conducts the White House press briefing where he addressed Trump Accounts, the war in Iran and inflation, on May 28. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has moved out of his Washington-area home and onto a military base after threats against his life from Iran, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. He is the third cabinet member now living in military housing: Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have resided at Fort McNair since last year, on a street traditionally reserved for senior military officers.
The relocation was reported the same day the US Air Force confirmed it had pulled 13 aircraft out of RAF Mildenhall in eastern England, raising the base to Force Protection Condition Charlie — the military's second-highest alert level, indicating a likely terrorist threat. Nine KC-135 tankers flew to airfields in Scotland, Germany and Spain; three Ospreys went to nearby RAF Lakenheath, which has hardened aircraft shelters. It was the second major pullout from Britain in under two months, after heavy bombers left RAF Fairford in early October when counterterrorism police stopped three suspicious vans heading toward the base.
On Tuesday the Justice Department unsealed indictments against three Iranian-backed operatives accused of coordinated plots across Europe, including at Fairford. US officials now assess that Iranian plotting against current and former American officials has reached "a more advanced stage" — intelligence about the threats to Bessent was among the material behind that assessment, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Times. National intelligence chief Jay Clayton said last month that Tehran has "substantially increased" its efforts to target Americans in the Middle East and beyond.
Bessent has led the administration's economic campaign against Iran since August, promising "economic asphyxiation" through sanctions and restrictions on trade routes. Rubio, asked about the aircraft moves after a G7 meeting in Paris, said the US is "constantly repositioning forces around the world for a variety of reasons" and added: "You do bad things, bad things will happen to you." He also said the economic squeeze made further attacks unnecessary — even as US intelligence assessments suggest economic pressure alone may not persuade Iran's leadership to change course, since officials judge the regime determined to retain power regardless of what happens to living conditions.
Britain, for its part, has reportedly refused to let the United States use RAF Fairford for a potential attack on Iran. RAF Mildenhall is home to the only US tanker wing permanently based in Europe.