President Trump revoked U.S. Secret Service protection for John R. Bolton within hours of taking office, stripping his former national security adviser of the security detail he had been granted because of threats on his life from Iran, Mr. Bolton said on Tuesday.
Mr. Bolton said he received a call from a Secret Service official on Monday evening, less than 12 hours after Mr. Trump was sworn in as president for his second term, telling him that the president wanted to end his security.
“I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has made this decision,” Mr. Bolton said in a statement to The New York Times. “Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden’s national security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to once again extend Secret Service protection to me in 2021.”
“The Justice Department filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official in 2022 for attempting to hire a hit man to target me,” he said.
“That threat remains today, as also demonstrated by the recent arrest of someone trying to arrange for President Trump’s own assassination,” Mr. Bolton said. “The American people can judge for themselves which president made the right call.”
A spokesman for the Secret Service said the agency did not comment on or confirm information about its protective efforts. A White House spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment.
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