Former President Donald Trump has intensified his clash with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries by accusing the New York Democrat of provoking a recent assassination attempt against him.
In a post on Truth Social this Thursday, Trump claimed that Jeffries should face arrest for allegedly advocating “warfare” against Republicans. This accusation comes in the wake of a security scare at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April.
Trump referred to Jeffries as a “lunatic” and “Low IQ” in his post, suggesting that he should be held accountable for inciting violence. The post included images showing Jeffries with a sign stating “maximum warfare,” alongside pictures of Trump and his aide James Blair. It also featured a photo of the alleged attacker, Cole Allen, breaching the Secret Service checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, taken three days later.
Trump’s message, directed at his 12.6 million followers, questioned whether Jeffries should be charged with inciting violence.
In response, a spokesperson for Jeffries pointed Fox News Digital to a social media post where the congressman dismissed Trump’s remarks as “another deranged rant” and criticized the former president on issues of affordability.
A spokesperson for Jeffries referred Fox News Digital to a social media post where the top Democrat labeled Trump’s comments as “another deranged rant” and dinged the president on affordability.
“Gas prices are sky high, grocery bills are surging and families can’t catch a break,” he wrote on X. “Democrats are about to take back the House and you’re losing your mind.”
The online skirmish came after Jeffries already defended his “maximum warfare” language amid GOP backlash in late April.
“I don’t give a damn about your criticism,” he told Republicans.
Jeffries also justified his decision to use the phrase when discussing the nationwide redistricting battle by arguing that an anonymous White House staffer first deployed the phrase to threaten Democrats with GOP-friendly gerrymanders during an interview with The New York Times last year.
“That phrase ‘maximum warfare everywhere, all the time’ came from the White House in the summer of 2025, when they started this redistricting battle, and now they’re big mad,” Jeffries said at a news conference.
“Why? Because Democrats have decided to finish it. Get lost.”
Jeffries has consistently said that he opposes all forms of political violence, while refusing to walk back his fiery language.
He told “Fox News Sunday” last month that lawmakers “set the most appropriate example” in their rhetoric, when asked about the rise in political violence.
“Whatever your ideological perspective is, we all love America, and we all want to make sure that this country is the best that it can possibly be,” Jeffries said.
