President Donald Trump on Monday revoked Secret Service protection for former national security adviser John Bolton, who became the 47th president of the United States, Bolton told Fox News Digital.
“I am disappointed, but not surprised, by President Trump’s decision to end the protections previously provided by the U.S. Secret Service,” Bolton said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. No,” he said. “Despite my criticism of President Biden’s national security policies, he made the decision to extend that protection to me in 2021.”
Mr Bolton has been under threat from Iran for years, with an alleged plot to assassinate him in 2021 and the Justice Department indicting members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2022 for the plot. Trump ousted Bolton from his first administration in 2019. , and Biden gave him a security detail in 2021.
Asked by reporters on Tuesday why he revoked Bolton’s security clearance, Trump told reporters, “Because I think there was enough time.”
“We’re not going to guarantee people security for the rest of their lives,” he said. “Why do I have to do that?”
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President Donald Trump (right) ousted John Bolton (left) from his first administration in 2019. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“The Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps official for trying to hire a hitman to target me in 2022, as evidenced by the recent arrest of a man who tried to arrange the assassination of President Trump himself. That threat continues,” Bolton continued in his statement. “The American people can decide for themselves which president made the right decision.”
Iran’s threats against Bolton were likely prompted by the January 2020 U.S. attack that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, the Justice Department reported in 2022.
Bolton served as President Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, but President Trump fired him due to “deeply different opinions” on policy issues.
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“I told John Bolton last night that his role in the White House is no longer needed,” Trump tweeted in 2019. This morning, I thank John for his hard work and will appoint a new National Security Advisor next week. ”
President Donald Trump revoked Secret Service protection for former national security adviser John Bolton after he became the 47th president on January 20, 2025, Bolton said. (Javin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
In the years that followed, President Trump accused Bolton of starting “World War VI” and in 2023 called Bolton “one of the stupidest people in government.” has been repeatedly criticized.
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Bolton also slammed Trump in a 2020 interview, claiming that Trump lacked the “ability to do his job.”
John Bolton, pictured here in 2019 while serving as US national security adviser, has been under threat from Iran for several years, including an alleged assassination plot in 2021. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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“I don’t think he’s qualified to be president,” Bolton said in 2020. “I don’t think he’s capable of doing the job. There’s no other guideline that I’m aware of.” What’s good for Donald Trump’s reelection? ”
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