Official announcements from the U.S. Secret Service or statements from John Bolton

Trump Terminates John Bolton's Secret Service Protection Within Hours of Taking Office Amid Iranian Assassination Plot

Jan 21, 2025, 08:12 PM

President Donald Trump has terminated the Secret Service protection for his former national security adviser, John Bolton, within hours of taking office. Bolton, who left the Trump administration in November 2019, had been receiving Secret Service protection due to ongoing threats from Iran, including an assassination plot against him in 2022. The decision to remove his protection was confirmed by Bolton, who expressed disappointment but not surprise at Trump's action. The Justice Department had previously charged an Iranian national, a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, with attempting to arrange Bolton's murder. This move by Trump follows his initial termination of Bolton's protection after his departure from the administration, which was later restored by President Joe Biden in 2021.