Trump halts Bolton’s security protection despite $300K Iranian bounty

The bounty was meant as revenge for Bolton’s role in taking out Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani during Trump’s first term.

By JBN

The bitter feud between President Donald Trump and his former National Security Advisor just got uglier after John Bolton’s Secret Service protection was pulled on Tuesday.

Bolton was given 24/7 Secret Service protection by the Biden Administration in 2022 after it was discovered that an Iranian operative had allegedly offered $300,000 to have him killed on American soil. The hit was meant as revenge for Bolton’s role in taking out Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani during Trump’s first term.

“We’re not gonna have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

“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,” he added. “You can’t have that for life. You shouldn’t expect it for life.”

Bad blood between the pair boiled over in September 2019 when Bolton’s White House exit turned into a social media firestorm. Trump announced he’d fired his advisor over his mistakes, while Bolton shot back that he’d actually offered to resign first. Things only got worse when Bolton joined other former officials in snubbing Trump’s first impeachment hearing over Ukraine.

But it wasn’t until the June 2020 release of Bolton’s memoir “The Room Where It Happened,” which portrayed Trump as desperately seeking China’s help for his reelection, that things went nuclear. In it, Bolton claimed Trump gave approval to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s construction of “re-education camps” for native Uyghurs. After failing to block the book’s publication, Trump called for Bolton’s arrest over false claims the book contained classified information.

“I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection,” Bolton lamented on X. “The American people can judge for themselves which president made the right call.”

Donald TrumpIranJohn Bolton