What security experts refer to as “threat convergence” is the main source of Bongino’s worry. Each risk factor may be controllable on its own. When combined, they produce a volatile environment with a drastically reduced margin for error. Bongino claims that Trump is currently under pressure from at least four different sources: hostile foreign actors, domestic extremists who have been radicalized by years of incendiary rhetoric, internal institutional hostility, and a protective culture that is becoming more and more influenced by appearances rather than actual danger.
Threats from abroad are not hypothetical. Bongino has explicitly mentioned Iran, which has publicly threatened to retaliate after the U.S. strike that killed Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Iran has asymmetric capabilities and long memory, which intelligence analysts have admitted time and time again. Instead of confronting Iran directly, they frequently rely on proxy networks. This indicates that the threat does not go away with time from a security perspective. It lingers, adjusts, and bides its time.
