Trump Revokes Security From Former Top Aides Despite Iran Threats

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump revoked security details for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and two other former top aides, reversing a Biden administration move to protect them from threats that stemmed from policies they enacted during Trump’s first term.

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Pompeo and Brian Hook, Trump’s Iran envoy, were told Wednesday that their security details had been revoked, according to two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday that Trump had pulled his detail.

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“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 post on X. “The American people can judge for themselves which President made the right call.”

A spokesperson for Pompeo declined to comment on Thursday. Hook also declined to comment. The New York Times reported earlier that the former aides’ security had been revoked.

President Joe Biden gave security details to Pompeo, Hook and Bolton over credible threats against them over their roles in earlier Trump policies including the “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran and the assassination of a top Iranian general. In 2023, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on Iranian officials it said were part of a plot to kill Bolton. At the time, the Associated Press reported that their security cost the government $2 million a month.

Asked by a reporter about removing Bolton’s security clearance, Trump on Tuesday said, “because I think there was enough time. It’s — we take a job, you take a job, you want to do a job, we’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we? I thought he was — I thought he was a very dumb person.”

While Bolton had become a vocal critic of Trump, the decision against Pompeo and Hook was more surprising given that both had continued to support him. Hook advised the Trump transition team on potential nominees, while Pompeo was briefly in the running to be Trump’s pick for defense secretary, and offered him congratulations when his election victory was made officials on Jan. 6.

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“The American people are ready for your leadership to restore our strength and prosperity,” Pompeo wrote on X.

But some advisers close to Trump — including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — had made little secret of their animosity for Pompeo in particular. Trump announced after his victory that Pompeo wouldn’t get a role in the new administration.

Earlier this week, Trump fired Hook from the board of trustees at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Trump said he was “removing over a thousand presidential appointees from the previous administration who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again.”

Trump appointed Hook to the board December 2020.

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