Donald Trump Strips Security Protection from Ex-Officials Who Spoke Out Against Him Despite Active Assassination Threats

Mar. 15, 2025

Donald Trump on his first day in office Jan. 20, 2025.Photo:Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty

US President Donald Trump with an executive order during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. President Donald Trump launched his second term with a strident inaugural address that vowed to prioritize America’s interests with a “golden age” for the country, while taking on “a radical and corrupt establishment.

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PresidentDonald Trumphas rescinded the security details of three former White House colleagues — all of whom face international threats for the work they did on Trump’s behalf,The New York Timesreports.

Trump’s former Secretary of StateMike Pompeo, former U.S. representative for Iran Brian Hook, and former national security adviserJohn Boltoneach played roles in a 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Since then, the men have reportedly faced continued threats from Iran.

Iran’s threats are also pointed at Trump himself, though as president he enjoys an extensive Secret Service detail.

Donald Trum at a 2018 NATO summit with Mike Pompeo and John Bolton behind him.BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty

US President Donald Trump (L) waves alongside US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (C) and US National Security Advisor John Bolton (R) as he prepares to depart after addressing a press conference on the second day of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Brussels on July 12, 2018.

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TheAssociated Pressreported that a former senior official in the Biden administration — who spoke on the condition of anonymity — said the Trump administration was also made aware of the “active threats” against the men.

The former Biden official added that they considered Trump’s decision to revoke protection “highly irresponsible.”

Amid the threats from Iran during Biden’s presidency, the Democrat’s White House aides issued a warning to Iranian officials that killing a former U.S. government official would be understood as an act of war.

President Joe Biden in the Oval Office on June 2, 2023.Jim Watson-Pool/Getty

President Joe Biden sit at his desk ahead of addressing the nation on averting default and the Bipartisan Budget Agreement in the Oval Office of the White House

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Only former presidents and their spouses are guaranteed protection after leaving public office. Thus, Pompeo, Hook and Bolton are not entitled to protection even in the midst of active danger.

Bolton left Trump’s first administration in 2019 on bad terms, and since then he’s been vocal in his opposition to Trump — includingwriting a tell-all bookabout his time in the White House.

“Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden’s national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to extend that protection to me in 2021,” Bolton wrote in a statement toThe Hillon Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Brian Hook and Mike Pompeo.ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty

The State Department’s director of policy planning and head of the Iran Action Group, Brian Hook (L), shakes hands with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after the announcment of the “Iran Action Group” during a press briefing at the State department in Washington, DC, August 16, 2018. - Pompeo said the initiative is aimed at “directing, reviewing and coordinating all aspects of the State Department’s Iran-related activity.

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Trump also recently turned against Pompeo, publicly stating that his former secretary of state would have no role in his second administration, despite Pompeo largely continuing to align himself with his former boss.

Pompeo has, on a few occasions, taken jabs at Trump — including one instance in 2023 when he said that the Republican Party should move away from “celebrity leaders” with “fragile egos,” asAxiosreported. Still, Pompeo endorsed Trump in 2024 and spoke at the Republican National Convention.

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Hook served under Pompeo in Trump’s first term, and later served the Wilson Center for Scholars during Biden’s presidency.

Hours after Trump’s inauguration on Monday, the new presidentpublicly fired Hook over social media, in the same breath as three other Biden appointees, writing that they were “not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again.”

source: people.com

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