President Donald Trump announced that he is stripping Joe Biden of his security clearance and barring him from receiving daily intelligence briefings, citing the precedent set when Biden took similar action against him four years ago.
“There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“JOE, YOU’RE FIRED,” the Republican added in a reference to his catchphrase on the reality TV show The Apprentice.
Former President Donald Trump announced Friday that he had revoked the security clearances of over four dozen former intelligence officials, alleging they interfered in the 2020 election to benefit Joe Biden. In a social media post, Trump argued that Biden had set the precedent in 2021 by blocking his access to national security briefings— a privilege traditionally extended to former presidents.
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Biden, who has maintained a relatively quiet presence since departing the presidency last month, has not addressed Trump’s latest accusations. His 2021 move to prevent Trump from accessing classified intelligence was an unprecedented step, breaking a long-standing tradition of extending such briefings to former leaders.
Citing national security risks, Biden justified blocking Trump’s intelligence access by pointing to his “reckless conduct.” He insisted that his unease with Trump’s behavior stretched back well before the Capitol riot, an event that saw Democrats accuse the former president of stoking unrest in his final days in office.
He justified the move by saying Trump could not be trusted because of his “erratic behaviour”, even before the 2021 US Capitol riot, which Democrats accused Trump of inciting in the last days of his first term.
“What value is giving him an intelligence briefing?” Biden said at the time. “What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?”
Trump has taken steps to revoke the security clearances and protections of other top officials linked to the Biden administration since returning to office.
