President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton said the president revoked his Secret Service detail on Tuesday, his first day back in office.
The former ambassador turned Trump critic originally had his Secret Service detail terminated at the end of Mr. Trump’s first term but former President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2021. Mr. Bolton said the move to cancel his protection did not come as a shock.
“I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection previously provided by the United States Secret Service,” Mr. Bolton said in a statement Tuesday. “Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden’s national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to extend that protection to me in 2021.”
Mr. Bolton, a prominent Iran hawk, said the termination of his security detail puts his physical safety at risk, citing former attempts on his life. In late 2022, the U.S. Justice Department charged a former Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member with plotting to assassinate Mr. Bolton.
The DOJ alleged that Shahram Poursafi tried recruiting possible assassins to kill Mr. Bolton between 2021 and 2022. Mr. Poursafi allegedly offered $300,000 for Mr. Bolton’s life. The DOJ said the plot was likely in response to Mr. Bolton’s part in the 2020 airstrike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
Mr. Bolton said despite the arrests the threats to his and others’ lives from Iran continue.
“That threat remains today,” he wrote. “As also demonstrated by the recent arrest of someone trying to arrange for President Trump’s own assassination.”
Mr. Trump has not explained why he revoked Mr. Bolton’s Secret Service protection. However, at a press briefing yesterday the president elaborated on why he rescinded Mr. Bolton’s security clearance.
“I think there was enough time,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “We take a job, you take a job, you want to do a job, we’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?”
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.