Despite Iran's threat to life, Trump revokes ex-NSA John Bolton's security

Despite threats to his life from Iran, US President Donald Trump has withdrawn Secret Service security detail of former National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Bolton served as the NSA from April 2018 to September 2019 in the first Trump administration. After weeks of reports of disagreements over US security and foreign policies, Trump fired him and the two have since continued to exchange barbs.

Bolton, a lifelong security and foreign policy hawk, has been an enemy of Iran for long over his policy positions. In 2022, the Department of Justice charged an Iranian official from Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Shahram Poursafi, with a plot to assassinate Bolton in retaliation to the assassination of IRGC’s Quds Force chief Qassim Suleimani in 2020 at the orders of Trump. After charges were filed, the then-President Joe Biden granted him Secret Service protection.

As part of retribution against critics and those who don’t toe his life, Trump withdrew Bolton’s Secret Service security detail in one of his first orders in his second term. Bolton confirmed the revocation of security detail in a statement and said that he was “disappointed but not surprised”.

Bolton, who has been a critic both Biden and Trump over their policy positions, said that even though he criticised Biden, he never revoked his security detail.

Bolton said on X: “Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden’s national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to extend that 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. That threat remains today, as also demonstrated by the recent arrest of someone trying to arrange for President Trump’s own assassination. The American people can judge for themselves which President made the right call.”

The threats from Iran are continuing as was seen during the election campaign. The US intelligence community had foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump.

Bolton is not the only person to receive protection over threats from Iran. The Biden administration also extended protection to Trump’s last NSA, Robert O’Brien; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and senior aide Brian Hook.

Rejecting security concerns over the revocation of Bolton’s security detail, Trump said, “We’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?”