Trump strips former advisor John Bolton of Secret Service protections
Washington DC - Former US national security advisor John Bolton, the target of an alleged Iranian assassination plot, said Tuesday that President Donald Trump has withdrawn his Secret Service protection.
Bolton, who served in the White House during Trump's first term but has since become an outspoken critic, said he was "disappointed but not surprised" by the move.
Bolton noted in a post on X that 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," he said.
Bolton said that although he was a critic of former Democratic president Joe Biden's national security policies, "he nonetheless made the decision to extend [Secret Service] protection to me in 2021."
"The American people can judge for themselves which President made the right call," he added.
Trump also revoked Bolton's security clearance on Monday, accusing him of revealing "sensitive information drawn from his time in government" in a critical memoir he published in 2020.
The State Department has announced a $20 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the alleged Iranian mastermind behind the plot to assassinate Bolton, who is also a former US ambassador to the United Nations.
US officials have also accused Iran of seeking to assassinate Trump to avenge the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in 2020 in a US drone strike.
Cover photo: Collage: Jim WATSON / AFP & Sam Yeh / AFP