Trump Ends John Bolton’s Secret Service Protection Hours After Taking Office
Trump--
Just hours into his presidency, Donald Trump ordered the termination of Secret Service protection for his former national security adviser, John Bolton. The move was confirmed by Bolton in a statement to CNN on Tuesday.
Bolton, who left Trump’s administration in November 2019, had been under Secret Service protection due to credible threats against him from Iran. While Trump previously ended Bolton’s protection after his departure during the first term, President Joe Biden reinstated it when he took office in 2021.
Expressing his disappointment, Bolton said, “I am not surprised, but I am disappointed by President Trump’s decision. Despite my criticisms of President Biden’s national security policies, he made the right choice to extend my protection when it was needed.”
Bolton’s security detail was reinstated after the Justice Department revealed in 2022 that an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official had been charged with plotting to assassinate him. This followed threats linked to the 2020 killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, which Bolton was not directly involved in but supported as part of the Trump administration’s hardline stance on Iran.
“The threats remain very real,” Bolton added. “The American people can decide which president acted responsibly when faced with these dangers.”
Bolton’s role as a hawkish figure on Iran has long defined his public career. He was a vocal critic of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and advocated for its dismantling when Trump took office. Trump ultimately withdrew the U.S. from the agreement in May 2018, shortly after hiring Bolton as his national security adviser. However, their partnership was short-lived, as Trump fired Bolton in September 2019, citing significant disagreements over foreign policy.
After his dismissal, Bolton published a memoir sharply criticizing Trump, accusing him of being uninformed on international affairs and prioritizing his media image above national interests. Trump retaliated by threatening legal action against Bolton and attempting to block the book’s release.
Bolton’s continued prominence as a target stems from his association with the Soleimani strike. Following the assassination, Iranian officials vowed retaliation against U.S. figures involved in the decision. The plot against Bolton came to light in 2022, when U.S. prosecutors charged an IRGC member with attempting to hire a hitman to kill him.
In one of his first actions as president, Trump not only ended Bolton’s security detail but also revoked his security clearance, alongside dozens of other former national security officials.
