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In an Associated Press interview published August 21, 2024, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that the United States faced several elevated threats at once—not one combined or formally ranked threat level. He pointed to terrorism, Chinese espionage and intellectual-property theft, foreign election interference, and cyberattacks, and said law enforcement needed strong partnerships to respond.
What threats did Wray identify?
Wray made the remarks to AP reporter Michael Goldberg in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, while visiting the FBI’s Minneapolis field office. The categories in the AP account span different kinds of actors and potential harm; the interview did not assign them probabilities or rank them against one another.
| Threat category | What it can involve | Response point in Wray’s remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Terrorism | Domestic and international terrorism; the interview does not quantify the likelihood of an attack. | Law-enforcement vigilance and cooperation. |
| Chinese espionage and intellectual-property theft | State-linked efforts to obtain sensitive information or intellectual property. | Investigative and intelligence work. |
| Foreign election interference | Foreign efforts directed at U.S. elections. | Protecting election-related institutions and processes. |
| Cyberattacks | Attacks that can affect election infrastructure, candidates, or campaigns. | Wray said investigating these cyber threats required help from the private sector. |
The categories can overlap. The FBI’s 2022 testimony noted that nation-state and criminal cyber activity may intersect, so terrorism, state activity, and cybercrime should not be treated as mutually exclusive boxes.
Why did Wray say the threats were concerning “all at once”?
Wray’s concern was the combination of multiple elevated threats and the challenges facing law-enforcement personnel. The phrase “all at once” expresses his assessment; it is not a published index measuring a single combined threat level.
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“I worry about the combination of that many threats being elevated at once, with the challenges facing the men and women in law enforcement more generally.”
Wray then emphasized cooperation: “And the one thing that I think helps bridge those two challenges is partnerships. That’s how we get through. It is by all working together.” The AP report says he highlighted information-sharing as a way for partners to connect separate pieces and see a wider picture. For cyber investigations involving election infrastructure, candidates, and campaigns, he specifically said private-sector help was needed.
What had the FBI said about terrorism before the interview?
Wray’s 2024 AP remarks were not the FBI’s first public warning about elevated terrorism threats. In November 2022, the Bureau told Congress that international, domestic, and state-sponsored terrorism threats were simultaneously elevated. It assessed lone actors or small cells as the greatest terrorism threat to the homeland at that time, including domestic violent extremists and homegrown violent extremists.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThe FBI described a pattern in which individuals might radicalize to violence online and use easily accessible weapons against soft targets. That was the Bureau’s dated 2022 assessment, not a claim that a particular attack was imminent.
- About 2,700 domestic-terrorism investigations: The FBI reported this approximate count at the end of fiscal year 2022.
- More than double: The FBI said the number of domestic-terrorism investigations had more than doubled since spring 2020; it did not give an exact multiplier in that statement.
- More than 880 people arrested and charged: In the same November 2022 testimony, the FBI said DOJ had arrested and charged more than 880 people who took part in the January 6 Capitol siege. This is the figure as stated then, not a current cumulative total.
These figures describe investigations and arrests at specific historical cutoffs. They do not quantify the threat picture Wray described in his 2024 interview.
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How did Wray describe the terrorism risk in July 2024?
In testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on July 24, 2024, Wray again said international, domestic, and state-sponsored terrorism threats were simultaneously elevated. He expressed concern that people could be inspired by or react to the Israel-Hamas conflict and commit violence in the United States, including against Jewish and Muslim communities and institutions. His testimony described a concern about possible violence, not evidence that a specific attack was imminent.
In that testimony, Wray said: “The breadth of these threats and challenges are as complex as at any time in our history, and the consequences of not responding to and countering threats and challenges have never been greater.”
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The 2026 Annual Threat Assessment is later context, not confirmation of what Wray meant in August 2024. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence says the assessment uses information available through March 14, 2026, and focuses primarily on direct, serious threats during the following year. The Justice Department’s summary describes a heightened homeland-threat environment involving lone-actor attacks, online radicalization, and foreign-inspired violence.
Because the assessment has a different publication date and timeframe, it should be read separately from Wray’s 2024 interview and his 2022 and July 2024 statements.
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Sources
- Associated Press, Michael Goldberg, August 21, 2024: Wray interview in Minnesota
- FBI, Christopher Wray’s November 17, 2022 testimony
- FBI, Wray’s July 24, 2024 House Judiciary Committee testimony
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 2026 Annual Threat Assessment
- U.S. Department of Justice, Strategic Plan 2026–2030
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