President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has revoked the security clearances of people he does not respect, which includes his political enemies.
‘There are people that we don’t respect. If there are people that we thought that were breaking the law, that came very close to it in previous years, we do it. And we’ve done it with some people,’ Trump told reporters, according to The Hill.
This comes after Trump on Friday pulled former President Joe Biden’s security clearance and stopped his daily intelligence briefings.
‘We’ve done it with Biden himself. Biden himself. We think our country is not as safe when you gave him clearance,’ Trump said on Sunday.
‘We don’t think he knows what he’s doing and what he’s done to this country is a disgrace, and what he’s done in terms of allowing criminals, murderers, drug lords into our country, people from mental institutions into our country, he should be ashamed of himself,’ he added.
The president argued that there is no need for Biden to receive a security clearance or receive daily intelligence briefings.
He had cited former special counsel Robert Hur’s report last year into Biden’s handling of classified materials. The report highlighted the former president’s frequent memory lapses and led to increased scrutiny from Republicans about his mental fitness.
‘There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information,’ Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social. ‘Therefore, we are immediately revoking Joe Biden’s Security Clearances, and stopping his daily Intelligence Briefings.’
‘He set this precedent in 2021, when he instructed the Intelligence Community (IC) to stop the 45th President of the United States (ME!) from accessing details on National Security, a courtesy provided to former Presidents,’ Trump’s post continued. ‘The Hur Report revealed that Biden suffers from ‘poor memory’ and, even in his ‘prime,’ could not be trusted with sensitive information. I will always protect our National Security — JOE, YOU’RE FIRED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’
Trump has also revoked the clearances of former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
He also pulled Secret Service protection for his former national security adviser John Bolton last month and security protection for his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, despite both men facing threats from Iran over their hawkish foreign policy positions towards the country.