Trump revokes Mike Pompeo's security detail despite threats from Iran
The move comes after the president also revoked protection for his former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has become a fierce critic of the Republican leader.

Mike Pompeo campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania in November 2024
President Donald Trump revoked the security detail of his former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, despite serious threats from the Iranian regime, which, according to the Justice Department, organized an assassination plot against Trump himself, Pompeo and several top officials of his first administration.
The move comes just a day after President Trump revoked the measure from another former top official of his first Administration, his former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who questioned the move on his X account.
Another top former adviser during the first Trump administration, Brian Hook, was also notified about the cancellation of his security detail.
Pompeo, who was one of those in charge of designing U.S. foreign policy against Iran during the Trump era, was involved in the strategy of the drone strike that killed powerful Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in early 2020.
Iran has since targeted Trump, Pompeo, Bolton and other senior U.S. officials involved in the order.
However, Trump justified the measures over the security clearance to the former officials Thursday to reporters.
"When you have protection, you can’t have it for the rest of your life," the president said.
He added: "You don’t want a large detail of people guarding people the rest of their lives. I mean there are risks to everything."
According to the Justice Department, the Iranian regime seeks revenge against senior Trump officials involved in the Soleimani assassination, including Pompeo and Bolton, both harsh critics and enemies of Iran.
Notably, Bolton said he was not surprised that Trump revoked his security detail.
"I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection previously provided by the United States Secret Service," Bolton wrote on X.
"Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden's national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to extend that protection to me in 2021. 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. The American people can judge for themselves which President made the right call."
I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection previously provided by the United States Secret Service. Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden's national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to extend…
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) January 21, 2025
According to the New York Times, the first media outlet to disclose the move, Bolton and Hoook were notified of the loss of protection on Wednesday. The order went into effect at 11 p.m. that day.
Other media outlets such as the Washington Times cited inside sources in reporting the move, but all insider sources cited did not offer an exact explanation as to why Trump decided to revoke Pompeo and Hook's security measures.
The conflicts between Trump, Bolton and his former officials
Bolton, on the other hand, assured that he made his resignation available because he did not share several values and ideas of the Trump administration.
After leaving office, Bolton wrote a book titled "The Room Where It Happened (2020)," where he harshly criticized Trump for his handling of foreign policy, straining the relationship between the two to a point of no return.
With Pompeo, the case is different. The former secretary of state was never over the years a fierce critic of Trump as Bolton was, however, at some point he questioned the Republican president during the election campaign, especially when Biden's DOJ indicted Trump in the classified documents case. Specifically, Pompeo said Trump had committed a "serious crime" on national television.