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President Donald Trump has revoked security details for several former members of the last two presidential administrations.
Trump revoked security from three national security officials — including his former secretary of state — and Dr. Anthony Fauci this week. When asked about his decision, he told reporters: “You can’t have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government.”
But many of these former officials continue to face security threats even after leaving office.
Here’s what we know about the state of security details for former government officials under Trump:
Mike Pompeo
Trump has revoked security from Pompeo, his former secretary of state. The order went into effect Wednesday night, the Associated Press reports.
The State Department said in 2022 it was paying more than $2 million per month to provide 24-hour security to Pompeo, the AP reports, along with former Special Representative to Iran Brian Hook, who also had his security revoked.
The 61-year-old, who served as Secretary of State from 2018-2021, had “credible and serious threats” made against him by Iran and could be unsafe without protection, an unnamed former intelligence official told CNN.
Pompeo played a key role in Trump’s first administration, shaping policy on Iran and playing a role in the president’s order to assassinate Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian military commander.
Another unnamed official told CNN Trump’s move was motivated by “pure spite and pettiness.”
Pompeo also served as CIA Director from 2017 to 2018.
Trump was reportedly set to nominate Pompeo for secretary of defense but the idea was slashed after former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson talked him out of it, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Carlson reportedly told Trump that Pompeo was a risky choice and said that he was a warmonger. Carlson’s grievances also included an alleged plot to kill Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, the Journal reported.
Carlson pushed the allegations about Pompeo and Assange during an April appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience but provided no evidence.
John Bolton
John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, also had his security removed this week.
Bolton, like Pompeo, also helped coordinate Soleimani’s assassination. This could also make him a target for violence, the unnamed former intelligence official told CNN.
Bolton has made an enemy of Trump since leaving his administration, once calling him “unfit for office.”
Bolton resigned from his administration in September 2019, noting he left after months of disagreement with the Republican. Since leaving, Bolton has been an outspoken critic of Trump.
In 2020, he published The Room Where it Happened: A White House Memoir, a scathing account of his experience serving in his first administration.
Brian Hook
Hook served as a special representative to Iran and senior policy adviser to Pompeo 2018-2020. Now, he no longer has a security detail as of Wednesday evening.
Trump has driven Hook out of his administration, firing him from his presidentially-appointed position on the board of the Wilson Center, a think tank, the AP reports.
Unlike Bolton, Hook was not a public adversary to Trump. He even assisted with the Biden-Trump transition last year, CBS News reported.
Anthony Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of public health and education during the COVID-19 pandemic, is no longer receiving a security detail as of Thursday.
The detail was provided and paid for by the official’s former agency, the National Institutes of Health.
Trump said he would “not take responsibility” if anything happened to Fauci as a result of losing security.
Trump and Fauci regularly clashed during the Republican’s first administration. The doctor often had to push back against COVID-19 misinformation spread by Trump and his allies.
Since then, Fauci has been the target of ire from members of the Republican party. Trump was openly musing about firing Fauci in the fall of 2020, and his rally crowds often chanted he should be fired.
Right-wing media personalities also demonized Fauci, with Fox News anchor Jesse Watters once suggesting a crowd should “ambush” Fauci wth questions and go for a “kill shot.”
Fauci was among those the Biden administration pre-emptively pardoned on its way out of office, fearing Trump would politically persecute him and seek retribution.
“These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions,” Biden said.
The Independent has reached out to all four former officials for comment.
