President Donald Trump has decided to end the US Secret Service's protection for former President Joe Biden's adult children, Hunter and Ashley Biden.
Trump announced this on his social network Truth Social, ABC News reports.
Trump stressed that Hunter Biden's protection would be terminated "immediately."
During a visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington, reporters asked Trump about Hunter Biden's protection during his vacation in South Africa.
"I'll look into it this afternoon. Good. I just heard about it for the first time," the President replied.
His post on Truth Social appeared a few hours after the conversation with the media.
Shortly after the inauguration, Trump canceled the Secret Service protection for John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and Mark Milley, despite threats to their lives from Iran due to their work in the first Trump administration. He also withdrew protection for Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has faced threats over the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“When you have protection, you can’t have it for life,” Trump told reporters at the time.
Presidents, vice presidents and their families receive Secret Service protection for the duration of their terms in office. Former presidents and their spouses can keep their protection for the rest of their lives after leaving office unless they waive it. Federal law also provides protection for children of former presidents up to age 16, although outgoing presidents can extend that period. Hunter Biden is 55 and Ashley Biden is 43.
When Trump left office after the 2020 election, his four adult children and their spouses received Secret Service protection for an additional six months.
Trump previously said he was invalidating pardons that were signed on the last day of Biden’s presidency. Then Joe Biden pardoned his own son Hunter, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, retired General Mark Milley, and infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci.
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