President Trump has ended the federal security detail for Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who advised him on the COVID-19 pandemic, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press Friday.
Fauci is the latest in a string of former Trump aides-turned-critics to see their federal protection canceled despite ongoing threats to their lives.
Speaking to reporters in North Carolina on Friday, Mr. Trump said he wouldn’t feel any responsibility if harm befell the former government officials. A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues, told the AP that Fauci’s federal security detail was ended on Thursday and that he has since hired private security.
When asked about Fauci and former national security adviser John Bolton, Trump said, “They all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security, too.”
Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for several decades, before retiring in 2022.
Fauci faced regular threats to his life and has received federal protection for years.
In an interview with CBS News last year, Fauci said he never received “credible death threats” until the pandemic and his agency’s response to it.
“No, not credible death threats where a person is arrested who was clearly intending to kill you,” Fauci told CBS News. “And that’s happened at least twice. We’re acting like, we have a virus that’s the common enemy and we’re fighting with each other.”
Mr. Trump, a Republican, earlier this week revoked protection details for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top aide, Brian Hook, as well as Bolton. All have faced threats from Iran since they took hard-line stances on the Islamic Republic during Trump’s first administration and fell out with him in the years after he left office in 2021.
Fauci was a regular at Mr. Trump’s side early in the COVID-19 outbreak but grew critical of Trump after the president tried to undermine public health guidance.
Bolton, Hook and Pompeo had their security details repeatedly renewed by the Biden administration because of credible and ongoing threats from Iran. Fauci’s was also repeatedly renewed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, because of domestic threats.
“You can’t have a security detail for the rest of your life because you worked for government,” Trump said.
Hours before leaving office on Jan. 20, President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci and others he thought could be targeted by the Trump administration.
