...
By Jesus Mesa and Gabe Whisnant
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Former national security adviser John Bolton confirmed to Newsweek on Tuesday that President Donald Trump has ended the Secret Service protection assigned to him.
In a statement shared via email, the former official said the Secret Service called late Monday night, just hours after the president took office, to inform him that his protection would end Tuesday at noon.
Why It Matters
Bolton, national-security hawk who played a key role in shaping U.S. foreign policy during the first Trump administration, has continued to require Secret Service protection due to threats from Iran, even after leaving the White House in 2019.
Read More on U.S.
After Bolton was fired by Trump, the president terminated his security detail. However, former President Joe Biden reinstated the protection upon taking office in 2021.
The purported plot against Bolton in 2021, one of the most thoroughly documented alleged assassination attempts, is part of what U.S. prosecutors and former government officials describe as ongoing efforts by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. These efforts aim to target Trump-era officials responsible for a 2020 U.S. airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Guard's elite Quds Force.
"The Justice Department filed criminal charges in 2022 against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official for attempting to hire a hitman to target me. That threat still exists, as shown by the recent arrest of someone trying to orchestrate President Trump's assassination. The American people can decide for themselves which president made the right call," Bolton said in his statement to CNN.
What To Know
On Tuesday, CNN reported that former National Security Adviser John Bolton expressed frustration and disappointment over President Donald Trump's decision to revoke his Secret Service protection just hours after he returned to the White House.
...
"I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has made this decision," Bolton said in a Tuesday statement to Newsweek. "Despite my criticisms of President Biden's national security policies, he made the decision to extend Secret Service protection to me in 2021."
Bolton, who also held senior national security roles in the Bush administration, is well-known for his hardline stance against Iran. He opposed the 2015 nuclear deal, which restricted Iran's nuclear program in exchange for U.S. sanctions relief and urged Trump to withdraw from it after taking office.
Bolton highlighted the ongoing threat against him, pointing out that the Justice Department filed criminal charges in 2022 against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official for attempting to hire a hitman to target him.
"The threat is still present today, as shown by the recent arrest of someone plotting to arrange President Trump's assassination. The American people can decide for themselves which president made the right decision," he stated.
In May 2018, about a month after Bolton became his national security adviser, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal. Trump later fired Bolton in September 2019, citing strong disagreements with many of his positions.
Bolton has previously warned that a second Trump administration could be just as "chaotic" as the first.
What People Are Saying
Trump at a press conference Tuesday: "Because I think that was enough time. You take a job, you want to do a job, we're not going to have people with security for the rest of their lives. Why should we? ... You can't have that for life. You shouldn't expect it for life."
Trump also called Bolton, who has since become a fierce Trump critic, "a very dumb person" and a "warmonger" and blamed him for entangling the U.S. in bloody Middle Eastern wars.
Bolton previously told Newsweek: "President Trump lacked the focus needed to see the strategy through. It was challenging to hold his attention on any single issue."
Conservative talk radio host Erick Erickson on X, formerly Twitter: "Whether you like John Bolton or not, he played a role in wiping out a terror leader for Donald Trump and a foreign government wants him murdered because of it. Our government should protect him."
What's Next
Trump also used an executive order to revoke "any active or current security clearances" held by 51 former intelligence officials, including Bolton, who signed a letter in 2020 casting doubt on the provenance of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
"Signatories of the letter falsely suggested that the news story was part of a Russian disinformation campaign," the executive order reads.
Included in the list are former National Intelligence Director James R. Clapper Jr., former Central Intelligence Agency Directors Michael Hayden and John Brennan and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
Update: 1/21/25, 10:20 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to note Bolton's comment to Newsweek.
Update: 1/21/25, 7:01 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines