An illegal immigrant accused of threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump is now believed to have been set up, according to a new report. The Department of Homeland Security has kept him in federal custody.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced Wednesday that 54-year-old Ramon Morales Reyes sent a handwritten letter to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office vowing to kill Trump and then self-deport from the United States.
However, law enforcement now believes Reyes was framed so he would be arrested and deported for the benefit of someone awaiting trial in a robbery and assault case in which Reyes is the victim, according to a CNN report published late Thursday. Investigators also do not believe the assassination threat is credible.
Despite the new evidence, the DHS has not released Reyes and may pursue deportation proceedings against him.
“The investigation into the threat is ongoing. Over the course of the investigation, this individual was determined to be in the country illegally, and he had a criminal record. He will remain in custody,” a senior DHS official said in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Friday.
The letter received by an ICE office last week threatened to shoot Trump at a future rally.
“We are tired of this president messing with us Mexicans — we have done more for this country than you white people — you have been deporting my family and I think it is time Donald J. Trump gets what he has coming to him,” the letter said. “I will self deport myself back to Mexico but not before I use my 30 yard 6 [sic] to shoot your precious president in [h]is head — I will see him at one of his big ralleys [sic].”
Noem posted on X and issued a press release from DHS identifying Reyes as the letter writer.
“Thanks to our ICE officers, this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars,” Noem said in a statement.
Thanks to our ICE officers, this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars.
This threat comes not even a year after President Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania and less than two weeks after former FBI Director Comey called for the… pic.twitter.com/Sr2pI08NuQ
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) May 28, 2025
Police apparently obtained a handwriting sample from Reyes and concluded that it did not match the letter, leading them to believe he was framed before the trial began.
The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Police Department said in a statement to CNN on Thursday that it is “investigating an identity theft and victim intimidation incident related to this incident.”
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Reyes has not been charged with the assassination threat and is still being detained by ICE at a county jail in Wisconsin since being arrested on May 23, according to the outlet.
According to the DHS, Reyes has a criminal history including entering the U.S. illegally nine times between 1998 and 2005, arrests for a felony hit and run, criminal property damage, and disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier.
