‘Joe, you’re fired': In tit-for-tat move, Trump revokes Biden's security clearance for classified information

In 2021, Joe Biden cited Donald Trump's ‘erratic’ behaviour to revoke his security clearance and prevent access to classified information.

Updated on: Feb 8, 2025, 09:23:47 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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US President Donald Trump on Friday announced he is ending his predecessor Joe Biden's security clearance for access to classified information, with this being a tit-for-tat move by Trump for what Biden did four years ago.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump arrive for Trump's inauguration ceremony in Washington on January 20. (AFP)

“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,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

“He (Biden) 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,” the Republican leader added.

Trump cited last year's special counsel report on Biden’s handling of sensitive 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. I will always protect our National Security – JOE, YOU'RE FIRED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Biden had ended Trump's intelligence briefings due to efforts by the latter to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost as the incumbent, and due to violence by the Republican's supporters at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“Trump's ‘erratic’ behaviour should prevent him from getting the intelligence briefings,” Biden had said.

In November 2024, Donald Trump defeated then Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, to achieve a remarkable political comeback, and return to the White House.

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