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By Nandita Bose and Susan Heavey
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Friday Dr. Anthony Fauci, a former top health official who has faced threats since leading the country's COVID-19 response, should hire his own security, the latest former U.S. official to have their protection cut off since Trump took office this week.
Sources familiar with the situation confirmed that federal security protection had been canceled for Fauci, a top infectious disease official whose efforts to fight the pandemic were applauded by many public health experts even as he was vilified by Trump and many other Republicans.
Trump ended federal protection for at least three other former top officials who served during his first administration since he took office for the second time on Monday.
Asked about media reports that he had stripped Fauci's security, Trump told reporters that when you work for government, "at some point your security detail comes off, and you know, you can't have them forever."
"We took some off other people too, but you can't have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government," he said at a press briefing in North Carolina.
The National Institutes of Health, where Fauci led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during the pandemic before retiring in 2022, had provided Fauci's security, according to CNN, which first reported Trump's decision.
Fauci, who continues to be a target of ire years after the pandemic ended by Trump ally and billionaire Elon Musk and others, will pay for private security detail, the sources told Reuters. Former President Joe Biden gave Fauci and others a preemptive pardon before leaving office, saying he worried about politically motivated prosecutions.
Other officials who saw their federal protection terminated this week also have faced specific security threats.
On Tuesday, Trump said he ended security for his former national security adviser John Bolton, who was the target of an alleged Iranian plot and also became a vocal Trump critic. Trump also yanked protection for his former top diplomat Mike Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian Hook.
Asked if he would take responsibility if something happened to Fauci or to Bolton, Trump said: "No. You know they all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security too."
"Fauci made a lot of money. They all did ... Certainly I would not take responsibility," Trump said.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Susan Heavey; additional reporting by Ismail Shakil and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Rami Ayyub and Rod Nickel)
