Trump Cancels Pompeo’s Security Detail
“When you have security, it’s not something you maintain for life,” President Donald Trump mentioned to the press in the Oval Office.
President Donald Trump has ended the security detail of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Trump elaborated on this decision on January 23.
“When you have protection, you can’t have it for the rest of your life,” he addressed the reporters in the Oval Office. “Do you want to keep a large team of people assigned to protect individuals for their entire lives? There are risks involved with everything.”
Moreover, Trump also terminated the security detail of Brian Hook, the former special envoy for Iran who served in the first Trump administration.
Both lost their security detail on January 22.
This decision follows shortly after Trump relieved Hook, who briefly headed the State Department group during the second Trump transition, from his position at the Wilson Center.
“Our first day in the White House is not yet complete! My Presidential Personnel Office is currently working to identify and eliminate over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration who do not align with our vision to Make America Great Again,” Trump posted on Truth Social on January 21.
The Epoch Times has contacted Hook and CAVPAC, a political action committee established by Pompeo, for their comments.
After his election victory, Trump stated that both Pompeo and his former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, would not be part of his second administration.
“Despite my criticisms of President [Joe] Biden’s national security policies, he nonetheless opted to extend that protection to me in 2021.”
Bolton highlighted that in 2022, the Justice Department had filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official for attempting to hire a hitman to target him.
“That threat is still present today, as shown by the recent arrest of an individual attempting to orchestrate an assassination of President Trump. The American people can evaluate which president made the appropriate decision,” he remarked.
Bolton, Hook, and Pompeo were instrumental in shaping the hawkish strategies of the first Trump administration towards the Iranian regime, part of what was termed a “maximum pressure” campaign, which led to the United States withdrawing from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the Iran nuclear deal, in 2018.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.