President Donald Trump announced Monday that he was ending Secret Service protection for Hunter and Ashley Biden, the two adult children of former President Joe Biden. The unusual move ties together Trump’s retaliations against his predecessor, his extreme cost-cutting measures since retaking the White House, and even his bizarre feud with South Africa.
Secret Service protections ended ‘effective immediately,’ which is a break in tradition
In a social media post on Truth Social on Monday, Trump announced that “effective immediately, Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection.” The president also proclaimed that Hunter’s sister, Ashley, “will be taken off the list” for protection. In his post, Trump complained about the size and expense of the Secret Service details for the Bidens, claiming that Hunter, while on vacation in South Africa, had “as many as 18 people on this Detail, which is ridiculous!” He added that Ashley “has 13 agents” guarding her.
NPR reported that former presidents and their spouses automatically receive lifetime Secret Service protection once they leave office. Although these protections don’t automatically extend to their adult children, outgoing presidents can assign their children up to six months of protection after their term ends, as Biden did before leaving office. Other recent presidents, including George W. Bush and Barack Obama, granted extended protection to their families upon leaving office. Notably, Trump also granted extended Secret Service protection for his adult children after the end of his first term, and Biden did not revoke that protection for the Trump family, according to Newsweek.
Trump targets Bidens, South Africa and government spending
Trump appeared to learn about Hunter Biden’s South African trip and Secret Service detail from a reporter earlier on Monday, who asked Trump, “Who’s paying for that, and do you plan to revoke his Secret Service protections?”
Trump responded, “South Africa, you know, is on a watch list, you know that, because what they’re doing to people is brutal, and I’ve stopped having money go to South Africa. You know that. Billions of dollars.”
Although the claim of billions of dollars of aid to South Africa is an extreme exaggeration, Trump recently announced he was cutting off aid to South Africa after some, including Trump advisor Elon Musk, have accused the government of discriminating against white farmers with its land redistribution policies. Musk and Trump have also led a campaign to slash spending across the federal government since taking office in January.
In addition to using Biden’s trip to target South Africa and federal spending again, Trump’s move continues the long conservative campaign against Hunter Biden and other members of the Biden family. Before leaving office, President Biden pardoned Hunter, who faced federal charges gun charges related to his past drug abuse as well as tax charges. Biden also preemptively pardoned other members of the Biden family and other officials and public figures who’ve been targeted by conservatives just before leaving office. Trump recently challenged the validity of those pardons due to Biden signing them by Autopen, a claim that legal experts say holds no merit.
Nevertheless, Trump seems intent on criticizing and targeting Joe Biden and his family in any way he can. This latest action, removing protection for Hunter and Ashley Biden, could be dangerous and is the latest, but probably not the last, petty move by Trump against his predecessor.
