It’s a disturbing reflection of the times: more and more senior officials from the Trump administration are reportedly being forced to leave their homes in Washington, D.C., and the surrounding suburbs amid credible threats of violence. Many have opted to relocate to secure housing on military installations.
While Pete Hegseth has faced unfair criticism over the cost of renovations to his residence at Fort Leslie J. McNair, he’s hardly alone in seeking refuge behind military gates. Several top Trump administration officials have followed suit amid a climate of escalating threats and relentless media harassment. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has relocated to an admiral’s quarters at a Coast Guard base after being stalked by reporters. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Navy Secretary John Phelan have quietly moved into secured military housing, while Sen. Marco Rubio has taken up residence in general officer quarters at Fort McNair.
A number of other senior appointees have reportedly done the same — choosing the safety of military installations over the increasingly hostile atmosphere of Washington and its surrounding suburbs.
This isn’t a decision made out of vanity or convenience — it’s a matter of personal safety. The harassment campaign against Deputy White House Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller was literally organized by his own neighbors:
The former White House adviser Katie Miller—mother of three young children, and wife of the presidential right-hand man Stephen—walked out of her front door one Thursday morning last month and was confronted by a woman she did not know. When she told this story on Fox News, she described the encounter as a protest that crossed a line. The stranger had told Miller: “I’m watching you,” she said. This was the day after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It also wasn’t anything new.
For weeks before Kirk’s death, activists had been protesting the Millers’ presence in north Arlington, Virginia. Someone had put up wanted posters in their neighborhood with their home address, denouncing Stephen as a Nazi who had committed “crimes against humanity.” A group called Arlington Neighbors United for Humanity warned in an Instagram post: “Your efforts to dismantle our democracy and destroy our social safety net will not be tolerated here.” The local protest became a backdrop to the Trump administration’s response to Kirk’s killing. When Miller, the architect of that response who is known for his inflammatory political rhetoric, announced a legal crackdown on liberal groups, he singled out the tactics that had victimized his family—what he called “organized campaigns of dehumanization, vilification, posting peoples’ addresses.”
Since then, the Millers have put their house up for sale and have moved into military housing.
And let’s be clear — this isn’t “free housing” or some taxpayer-funded perk, despite what the left might try to spin. Every one of these officials pays rent equal to the housing allowance of the rank those quarters were built for — plus an additional five percent. For example, Pete Hegseth lives in quarters designed for a four-star general, paying $4,655.70 a month out of pocket.
Nor is it unprecedented. Defense Secretaries James Mattis and Robert Gates both lived on Fort McNair during their tenures.
What is unprecedented, however, is the level of hostility and threat that has driven Trump administration officials to move onto secure military bases rather than live in ordinary neighborhoods. No one in Washington can seem to explain why — but the answer is obvious to anyone paying attention.
Claimed The Atlantic, which is about as left-wing as a media outlet gets:
It is unclear why so many Trump administration officials have sought to live on military bases, but Mr. Panetta and his successor, Chuck Hagel, said that they faced the same kinds of security threats that any defense secretary routinely receives, and felt secure in their homes with Defense Department bodyguards posted outside.
No, let’s be honest — there’s no mystery here. The threats faced by Trump officials are real and escalating. We’re not just talking about a few angry protesters with signs. We’re talking about organized rent-a-mobs showing up at their homes and offices, and violent extremists like the one who murdered Charlie Kirk.
A couple of Secret Service agents stationed outside won’t deter that kind of threat. These people are unhinged and emboldened by years of media-fueled hatred toward anyone connected to Donald Trump.
