Donald Trump announced he’s revoking Joe Biden’s access to government secrets and ending the daily intelligence briefings he’s receiving.
The president announced his decision in a post on his social media platform Truth Social in what appears to be payback for Mr Biden doing the same to him in 2021.
He wrote: “There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information. Therefore, we are immediately revoking Joe Biden’s Security Clearances, and stopping his daily Intelligence Briefings.
“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.
“I will always protect our National Security — JOE, YOU’RE FIRED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Mr Trump also cited the special counsel report last year into his handling of classified documents. He wrote: “The Hur Report revealed that Biden suffers from ‘poor memory’ and, even in his ‘prime’, could not be trusted with sensitive information.”
Special counsel Robert Hur investigated Mr Biden’s handling of classified information and found that criminal charges were not warranted but delivered a critical assessment of his handling of sensitive government records.
The report described the then-president’s memory as “hazy”, “fuzzy”, “faulty”, “poor” and having “significant limitations”.
It said Mr Biden could not recall defining milestones in his own life such as when his son Beau died or when he served as vice president.
Mr Trump has the right to end the briefings for Mr Biden because it’s a sitting president’s decision on whether a past president should continue to have access to classified information.
Steven Cheung, the president’s communications director, worte on X: “Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more!”
Mr Biden ended the current president’s intelligence briefings after he helped spur efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and was accused of inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
At the time, the Democrat said Mr Trump’s “erratic” behaviour should prevent him from getting the intel briefings.
He said: “I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?”
