--- title: Poison Also Found in Letter Sent to President Trump description: President Trump also received an envelope containing the poison ricin after the Pentagon discovered two other contaminated envelopes. canonical: https://time.com/5413404/poison-letter-president-trump-ricin/ author: Gina Martinez article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-02T23:26:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:37:04.273Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Poison Also Found in Letter Sent to President Trump og:description: Secret Service is working with law enforcement to investigate the matter og:url: https://time.com/5413404/poison-letter-president-trump-ricin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fb219ca21762a0a/698938ce0a4a226f989d38b0/trump-mccain-flags.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: trump-mccain-flags-statement og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Poison Also Found in Letter Sent to President Trump twitter:description: Secret Service is working with law enforcement to investigate the matter twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fb219ca21762a0a/698938ce0a4a226f989d38b0/trump-mccain-flags.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Poison Also Found in Letter Sent to President Trump by [Gina Martinez](/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Oct 2, 2018 11:26 PM CUT  President Donald Trump speaks on the telephone with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in the Oval Office of the White House on August 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump speaks on the telephone with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in the Oval Office of the White House on August 27, 2018 in Washington, DC.Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Gina Martinez](/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Oct 2, 2018 11:26 PM CUT The Secret Service [has confirmed](https://www.secretservice.gov/data/press/releases/2018/18-SEP/CMR%5F50%5F18%5FSecret%5FService%5FStatement%5FRegarding%5FReceipt%5Fof%5FSuspicious%5FEnvelope.pdf "undefined") that President Donald Trump also received an envelope containing the poison ricin after the Pentagon discovered [two suspicious envelopes](http://time.com/5412993/pentagon-mail-quarantined-after-traces-of-deadly-poison-found-on-envelopes/ "undefined") that tested positive for the deadly substance. According to the Secret Service, the envelope was addressed to the President on Oct. 1 but never made it to the White House. “As a matter of practice, the Secret Service does not comment regarding matters of Protective Intelligence,” the Secret Service said in a statement. “However, in this instance, we can confirm that we are working jointly with our law enforcement partners to fully investigate this matter. Further, all threats directed towards the President, or any Secret Service protectee, are treated seriously and fully investigated.” The other two envelopes discovered by mail screeners at the Pentagon were addressed to Defense Secretary James Mattis and to Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson, [_CNN_ ](https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/02/politics/pentagon-ricin-mail/index.html "undefined")reported. The envelopes have been turned over to the FBI and all U.S. Postal Service mail received at the screening facility “is currently under quarantine,” according to Christopher Sherwood, a Pentagon spokesman. Ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans. If made into a partially purified material or refined into a terrorist or warfare agent, ricin could be exposed to people through the air, food or water, according to the[ CDC.](https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/ricin/facts.asp "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5413404/poison-letter-president-trump-ricin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5413404/poison-letter-president-trump-ricin/"},"headline":"Poison Also Found in Letter Sent to President Trump","datePublished":"2018-10-02T23:26:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:37:04.273Z","description":"Secret Service is working with law enforcement to investigate the matter","url":"https://time.com/5413404/poison-letter-president-trump-ricin/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fb219ca21762a0a/698938ce0a4a226f989d38b0/trump-mccain-flags.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Gina Martinez","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fb219ca21762a0a/698938ce0a4a226f989d38b0/trump-mccain-flags.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump-mccain-flags-statement","caption":"Trump in the Oval Office","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5413404/poison-letter-president-trump-ricin/","name":"Poison Also Found in Letter Sent to President Trump"}}]}] ```