Trump Revokes Secret Service Protection for Former National Security Adviser John Bolton
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton has confirmed that President Donald Trump revoked his Secret Service protection within hours of taking office. Bolton, who left the Trump administration in November 2019, has been under ongoing US Secret Service protection due to threats against him from Iran. President Joe Biden restored his protection upon taking office.
Bolton expressed disappointment but not surprise at Trump’s decision, stating that despite his criticisms of Biden’s national security policies, Biden had extended Secret Service protection to him in 2021. He highlighted that the Justice Department had filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official in 2022 for attempting to hire a hit man to target him, and that the threat remains today, as evidenced by the recent arrest of someone trying to arrange President Trump’s own assassination.
Bolton, known for his hawkish stance against Iran, strongly opposed the 2015 nuclear deal that restricted Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. He urged Trump to withdraw from the deal after he took office, which Trump did in May 2018. Trump fired Bolton in September 2019 due to disagreements over policy positions.
In 2020, Bolton published a book claiming that Trump was uninformed on foreign policy, focused on his media legacy, and asked leaders of Ukraine and China to assist in his 2020 election campaign. Trump threatened to imprison Bolton, a threat he often makes against those who oppose him.
Following the assassination of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani on Trump’s orders in 2020, the Justice Department revealed that the Iranian government sought revenge against senior Trump officials involved in the killing, including Bolton, despite him not being in the administration at the time.
In August 2022, the Justice Department charged an Iranian national and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member with attempting to arrange Bolton’s murder, stating that the plot was likely retaliation for Soleimani’s assassination.
As one of his first acts in office, Trump revoked Bolton’s security clearance, along with many other former national security officials.