On Monday, January 20, right after being inaugurated, President Donald Trump issued an executive order in which he revoked former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s security clearance. Shortly afterward, just into his presidency, he yanked Bolton’s Secret Service protection. Bolton was infuriated by the move, as he told Jake Tapper in a CNN interview.
President Trump, for his part, has defended the move, saying that there is no reason people like Bolton should have security details for their whole lives, as that seems like a waste of money and resources. He said, “We’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we? You can’t have that for life.”
He further added that he thought Bolton was dumb and most people thought Bolton was a warmonger, saying, “I thought he was a very dumb person but I used him well because every time people saw me come into a meeting with John Bolton standing behind me they thought that he’d attack them because he was a warmonger.”
Bolton, who previously served as National Security Advisor to Trump in the first Trump term, said, commenting to Jake Tapper on the move, that it was typical of Trump. He said, stumbling over his words, “Well I’ve had better days that’s for sure and this is uh… I think uh… typical of Trump the man. This is this is the kind of character or or lack thereof who’s now president.”
Continuing, he noted that Biden had given him Secret Service protection because of threats from Iran, saying, “You know when President Biden… recognizing the threat against me and and and several other current and former U.S. government officials authorized the Secret Service to restore protection, which I had had when I was National Security Advisor… I’m sure he probably wasn’t the happiest man in the world because of the criticisms that I’ve made of him on his foreign policy.”
He then showed his warmonger side and started ranting about Iran being a “rogue state,” saying, “But he did it because it’s simply not permissible to allow a rogue state like the terrorist in Iran to threaten Americans, whether they’re in government or not, simply for expressing opinions or in the case of the government, employees doing their job.”
Bolton further added, complaining about the president’s decision, “Trump has decided to reverse it. It’s obviously within his power to do it. But I think this is a matter that people should take seriously and let us contemplate who made the right decision here, President Biden or President Trump.” Watch him here:
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Posting on X (formerly Twitter) about the matter, Bolton said, bemoaning Trump’s decision yet again, “The Iranian threats against me (and a few others) are still very real and have been confirmed as of a few days ago. By removing my Secret Service detail and continuing the protection for others, Trump tells you all you need to know about his motives.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video