Trump Ends Security Detail for Ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Staff Writer
Former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. (Photo: Archive)

President Donald Trump has revoked the security detail for his former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who had been receiving protection due to threats from Iran. The threats stemmed from Pompeo’s hardline stance on Iran during Trump’s first term in office.

The decision to strip Pompeo of his State Department security detail, which was first reported by The New York Times, follows closely after Trump removed the Secret Service protection for his former national security adviser, John Bolton.

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When Trump was asked about removing security from former officials during a press conference on Thursday, he said, “When you have protection, you can’t have it for the rest of your life.” He went on to explain, “You don’t want a large detail of people guarding people the rest of their lives. I mean there are risks to everything.”

Pompeo played a major role in shaping Trump’s tough policies toward Iran, and was involved in the decision to order the assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in January 2020. The U.S. government has said that the Iranian government sought revenge against senior officials involved in the killing, including Pompeo and Bolton. Both men were targets of a foiled Iranian assassination plot, according to the Justice Department.

One former intelligence official expressed concern about the decision, telling CNN, “Somebody is going to get killed, there is a credible and serious Iranian threat against Pompeo and Bolton.”

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Another former national security official called the move “pure spite and pettiness,” adding that “Trump better hope the Iranians don’t hurt one of these people.”

Trump himself has remained a target of Iran after the Soleimani killing. His team requested additional security last summer after receiving briefings from the Biden administration that Iran was still actively plotting to kill him.

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