Emergency crews rushed to the Florida home of former first son Donald Trump Jr. on Monday after a letter was opened revealing an unidentified white powder and a death threat.
A source told The Daily Beast that tests on the substance were inconclusive but it is not believed to be deadly. Trump Jr. opened the letter in his home office, and emergency crews in hazmat suits responded to the call.
Jupiter Police Department officials said the alarming incident is being investigated by the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.
Trump Jr. was a key figure in his father’s presidency and continues to play a vital role in his election campaign. He is often featured on conservative networks and makes many public appearances to support the 45th president.
Monday marked the second such scenario where white powder has been sent to the son of the 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner. In 2018, his then-wife Vanessa was transported to a New York City hospital after opening an envelope addressed to her husband.
It also contained a white powder that was later determined not to be dangerous.
🚨 Donald Trump Jr. was sent a threatening letter with white powder on it, causing a hazmat unit to rush to his house…https://t.co/0QeM6eZHdg pic.twitter.com/TX6eDhnmLX
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 27, 2024
Two years before that letter was received, another threat came to Donald Trump Jr.’s younger brother Eric. An unidentified white powder was also found in the mailing delivered to his Manhattan apartment, and it was also harmless.
Trump Tower, which served as the 45th president’s campaign headquarters, twice received similar letters in 2016.
These acts of apparent domestic terrorism followed the 2001 scare in which several anonymous letters containing anthrax spores were sent to media companies and political leaders’ offices. A total of five people were killed and 17 others infected through their exposure.
The letters first appeared seven days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
After years of investigation by the FBI, Department of Justice and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, it was concluded that the likely sender was government scientist Dr. Bruce E. Ivins. He committed suicide in July of 2008.
Two years later, the DOJ reported that evidence established that “Ivins alone mailed the anthrax letters.”
