WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump has revoked U.S. security protection for Mike Pompeo, who served as Secretary of State in his first administration and had been a loyal Trump ally before considering a challenge to his presidential campaign.
A source familiar with the situation confirmed earlier reports that Pompeo’s security detail had been withdrawn.
The New York Times first reported that security for Pompeo, as well as former Iran envoy Brian Hook, was pulled on Tuesday, citing four sources familiar with the situation.
Trump, who took office on Monday, said this week that he had withdrawn protection for his former national security adviser, John Bolton, telling reporters: “We are not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives.”
All three men served in Trump’s first administration and led policy on Iran in particular.
U.S. authorities have alleged Iran has plotted to murder Bolton and Trump, charges Iran denies.
In 2022, after Trump left office, the United States charged a member of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps with plotting to murder Bolton, who Trump dismissed in 2019 before his White House term ended in January 2021.
In November, the U.S. Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by the IRGC to assassinate Trump, then U.S. president-elect.
Representatives for Pompeo could not immediately be reached for comment. Representatives for the U.S. State Department did not immediately return requests for comment.
Trump earlier this week also said he had “fired” Hook from a post at the congressionally-chartered Wilson Center diplomacy think tank. Hook has not responded to requests for comment.
After winning the presidential election, Trump said he would not ask Pompeo to join his administration this time around.
Pompeo had served as Trump’s Central Intelligence Agency director before moving to helm the U.S. State Department. Since leaving Trump’s first administration, he has served on the board of Kyivsta and advised Nippon Steel, and visited Kyiv.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; additional reporting by Humerya Pamuk and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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