Trump Revokes Security Clearances For Biden: ‘Joe, You’re Fired!’

President Donald Trump announced that he has revoked former President Joe Biden’s security clearances and ended his daily intelligence briefings in a Truth Social post. This is in retaliation to Biden’s previous act of barring Trump’s access to intelligence briefings in 2021.

Biden previously said, “I just think there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings…What impact does he have at all, other than the fact that he might slip and say something?” Biden also cited Trump’s “erratic behavior” as a reason to withhold access to intelligence briefings.

Sitting presidents do not require formal security clearances to access classified information and are not obligated to follow a formal process when deciding whether to disclose or withhold it from informants. However, this access expires once their term ends.

As a courtesy, sitting presidents often extend access to former presidents, a tradition first broken by Biden, with Trump retaliating today. In his post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “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 also referenced special counsel Robert Hur’s report on his two-day interview with Biden, in which Hur described him as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” due to his occasional difficulty recalling details like key dates, including the date of his son Beau’s death.

In his post, Trump wrote, “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!” 

Apart from Biden, Trump has also revoked security measures for other officials, including ending Secret Service protection for his former national security adviser John Bolton and his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.