Trump revokes Biden's security clearance and ability to receive classified intelligence briefings
During his first few weeks in office, President Donald Trump has ordered or overseen the revocation of security clearances and other perks for certain former federal officials who took overt oppositional actions against him over the preceding decade.
On Friday, that was extended by Trump to include former President Joe Biden, who will no longer be authorized to review classified materials or to receive a daily intelligence briefing, according to Fox News.
In making that monumental but not unprecedented announcement on social media, Trump concluded his message with arguably his most famous tagline from his pre-presidential days, and declared in all caps, "JOE, YOU'RE FIRED."
Biden's security clearance revoked, effective immediately
Friday evening, in a Truth Social post, President Trump 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," he continued.
Referencing the former special counsel who investigated Biden's unauthorized retention at his Delaware home and other locations of classified documents from his time as a U.S. senator and vice president, Trump noted, "The Hur Report revealed that Biden suffers from 'poor memory' and, even in his 'prime,' could not be trusted with sensitive information."
Trump added, "I will always protect our National Security -- JOE, YOU’RE FIRED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Biden did same thing to Trump four years ago
Fox News noted that, as President Trump indicated in his post, it had long been a customary courtesy extended by sitting presidents to allow their predecessors to maintain a security clearance and to continue to receive classified intelligence briefings.
Yet, per CBS News, former President Biden upended that tradition almost exactly four years ago when he revoked Trump's security clearance and ability to receive classified intelligence briefings because of Trump's alleged "erratic behavior" and supposed untrustworthiness.
"I'd rather not speculate out loud. I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings," Biden told the outlet at that time. "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?"
Biden no longer mentally competent to receive classified materials
President Trump also mentioned in his announcement former Special Counsel Robert Hur's final report on former President Biden's unauthorized retention of classified documents after leaving office, specifically the finding that Biden suffered from a diminished mental capacity and cognitive capabilities.
According to the Associated Press, Hur made multiple references to the fact that the 81-year-old Biden's "memory was significantly limited" and "appeared hazy" on several seemingly major events, including the date of the death of his eldest son Beau.
Indeed, the only reason Hur declined to pursue criminal charges against Biden for "willfully" retaining classified materials without authorization was the determination by prosecutors that, despite ample evidence on their side, a conviction would be difficult to obtain because a jury would likely perceive Biden as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
It is, in fact, Biden who can't be trusted with classified intelligence, and while there will undoubtedly be complaints from some about Trump retaliating against Biden with the revocation of his security clearance, those critics have no room to talk given that Biden did the exact same thing as a punitive measure against Trump just four years earlier.