The first two months of Trump 2.0 have been a whirlwind of activity by the president and his band of happy warriors. The activity has been comprehensive, vigorous and consequential. In some form or fashion, every department and agency of the executive branch has been affected.
Opinion
As a Trump supporter, I believe the efforts have been mostly positive, mostly beneficial and mostly delivering on promises made. This is not to say that every action taken by this young administration has been perfect. To expect perfection would be unrealistic. Our political system does not lend itself to “perfection.” Recognizing and calling out an administration’s mistake is not only right and proper, but beneficial.
Of President Donald Trump’s few mistakes, I want to focus on one, mostly forgotten, that could rear its ugly head at any time and if it does, adversely affect many lives and the nation as a whole. Fortunately, this mistake could easily be corrected.
Trump is a golfer, a good one according to reports. He knows a “mulligan” allows someone to replay a bad golf shot without penalty.
Trump needs to revisit his decision to pull personal protection for his first-term officials whose lives have been threatened by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reportedly, Iran’s assassination plans were in retaliation for the drone strike that killed General Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, in January 2020.
Assuming intelligence and the situation have not materially changed, Trump should immediately order the protection to be resumed. Why? Not only would an attack aimed at these former officials be catastrophic to the Trump presidency, but potentially to the officials and their families.
Protection was ordered by the Biden administration because of Iranian threats and actions taken to carry out the threats. According to Al Jazeera, a news service funded in part by Qatar, “The US Department of Justice revealed the charges against Shahram Poursafi, of Tehran … accusing him of offering an unidentified US-based individual $300,000 to carry out the killing.”
The threats were not “idle,” and were viewed by our government as very serious.
After personal protection was ended, Al Jazeera published an article stating, “United States President Donald Trump has cancelled security protections for Mike Pompeo, Brian Hook and John Bolton, hawkish foreign policy advisers.”
The AP reported, “One official from the administration of former President Biden confirmed to The Associated Press, on condition of anonymity, that Trump’s team was well aware of the threats to the three men. That person called Trump’s decision to pull the protection, ‘highly irresponsible.’”
Trump called Bolton a “very dumb person” and added, “We’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?”
Trump’s question can be answered in four words: Common decency and self-interest. Protection not “for the rest of their lives,” but for as long as the threat is viable.
Since Trump ordered the personal protection details to stand down, it has mostly been forgotten as a news item, though I’m certain it’s on the minds of Pompeo, et al. But, if a round was fired at any one of the three, the news would be elevated to the top story of the news cycle, whether or not, God forbid, the round found its target. The story of Trump pulling the protective detail would be revived — big time.
The only thing we know about what Trump was thinking when he pulled the plug on security for his former officials, is what he said publicly, which suggests animus. His adversaries would remind us that he had difficulty with at least two of the three policy advisers and that while cutting their protection Trump continually asked for additional security for himself during the 2024 campaign. Not a good look.
The American people have an innate sense of right and wrong, of decency and honor. In the event of tragedy, I believe they might be reluctant to excuse what looked like an act of petulance.
Whatever the reason that motivated the president to remove protection from his former officials, it is clear that should an assassination attempt happen, there would be a risk to Trump’s popularity, and, as a result, his ability to get things done for the American people. Clearly, the risk is not worth whatever benefit the president thought justified his action.
Mr. President, take a mulligan! It’s the right thing to do.
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