Trump ends Secret Service protection for ex-advisor Bolton

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he withdrew Secret Service protection to John Bolton, his former national security advisor and one of his most outspoken critics, because "you can't have that for life."

Bolton, 76, who served in the White House during Trump's first term and has been the target of an alleged Iranian assassination plot, said he was "disappointed but not surprised" by the president's move.

In remarks to reporters at the White House, Trump defended his decision and lashed out at his estranged former aide, calling him a "very dumb person" and a "stupid guy."

"We're not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?" the president said. "You can't have that for life."

"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," Trump added.

The president also revoked Bolton's security clearance, accusing him in an executive order of revealing "sensitive information drawn from his time in government" in a critical memoir he published in 2020.

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.

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.

U.S. 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.

© Agence France-Presse