US President Donald Trump announced Monday that he is immediately revoking the Secret Service protection details assigned to former President Joe Biden’s adult children, The Associated Press reported.
Biden had previously extended his children’s protection until July before he left office in January.
Trump raised objections on social media over what he described as an “excessive number of agents” assigned to Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden. According to Trump, 18 agents had been deployed for Hunter Biden’s security detail while he was in South Africa this week, while Ashley Biden was assigned 13 agents.
“She too will be taken off the list,” Trump stated.
There has been no official response from Biden’s office regarding the decision.
Under US federal law, former presidents and their spouses receive lifelong Secret Service protection. However, security details for their children over the age of 16 typically end when they leave office. Both Trump and Biden had extended protection for their children for an additional six months before their respective departures from the White House.
In December, about a month before he left office, Biden signed a full and unconditional pardon for his son, Hunter, on gun crime and tax convictions, reversing his previous pledge that he would not pardon his son.
Hunter had been facing sentencing on December 16 after he pleaded guilty in September to all nine charges in his federal tax case as part of a plea bargain.
The tax case reached a potential resolution just before a trial was set to begin in Los Angeles. It would have been Biden’s second criminal trial this year, following his June conviction on three federal gun charges in Delaware.