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U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran told reporters on Wednesday, July 22, that the agency has opened about 10,000 protective intelligence cases so far in 2026, a number he said he had never seen in his 24-year career.
That figure is a jump of nearly 40 percent from the roughly 7,000 cases the agency had opened by the same point in 2025, officials said in a briefing ahead of Friday's rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner. Most threats now begin online rather than through letters or phone calls, they added.
The agency also reported nearly ten times as many mental health related interventions as last year, including voluntary and involuntary commitments and efforts to work with relatives and clinicians to stabilize people in crisis. The Secret Service protects about three dozen people, among them the president, the vice president, their families, and others in the line of succession.
"The environment has become very volatile, and that's just across the board," Curran said.
The warning follows the April 25 shooting that ended the first Correspondents' Dinner early. Prosecutors say Cole Allen, 31, of California, traveled to Washington, armed himself with guns and knives, and fired a shotgun that struck a Secret Service agent's protective vest before he was stopped at a checkpoint about 120 yards from the podium. Allen has pleaded not guilty to attempted assassination of the president and other federal charges.
Deputy Director Matt Quinn said the agency is "very" concerned about drones and is expanding detection and mitigation systems around the White House. Officials said a known Iranian threat against President Trump is also factored into their planning.
The briefing also laid out the agency's workload. Officials said the Secret Service has carried out nearly 3,000 protective visits this year and screened about 100,000 attendees at MetLife Stadium for the World Cup final. Friday's dinner moves to the Waldorf Astoria, roughly two miles from the original site, with tighter screening and new access procedures.
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