President Donald Trump has ended Secret Service protection for his former national security adviser, John Bolton he said in a message X Tuesday evening.
“Despite my criticism of President Biden’s national security policies, he decided to extend that protection in 2021. The Justice Department filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer in 2022 for trying to hire a hitman to hit me. That threat continues today,” Bolton wrote. . “The American people can judge for themselves which president made the right call.”
President Donald Trump, flanked by National Security Adviser John Bolton, right, speaks with top military leaders during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 9, 2018 in Washington, DC.
Oliver Contreras/Sipa USA via AP
The White House has not commented on Bolton’s claims.
Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019 and frequently contradicted the president. After leaving office, Bolton spoke out about his criticisms of Trump’s policies, including in a 2020 memoir in which he said the president was “grossly misinformed,” ignorant of basic facts and easily manipulated by foreign enemies.
At the time of the book’s release, Bolton said ABC News’ Martha Raddatz That Trump “wasn’t fit for office” and didn’t have the “competence to do the job.”
President Donald Trump and John Bolton, the new national security adviser, attend the top military leader’s briefing in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC.
Olivier Douliery/Abaca/Sipa via AP
Trump has attacked Bolton in social media posts and interviews since leaving office.
On Monday, Bolton signed an executive order requiring him to forfeit any security clearance he may still hold.
The executive order accused Bolton of publishing a memoir “filled with sensitive information from his time in government,” adding that the book’s publication “created a significant risk of public disclosure of classified material.”
Bolton has denied divulging any classified information in the book, and although a federal judge was skeptical about it, no charges were ever filed.
