Social media erupted on Friday with reactions to reports that President Trump had ended the federal security detail for Dr. Anthony Fauci, widely regarded as a key figure in shaping the United States’ COVID-19 response.
“Fauci is the latest in a string of former Trump aides-turned-critics to see their federal protection canceled despite ongoing threats to their lives,” the Associated Press claimed on Friday.
Trump himself addressed the issue during a press conference in Asheville, N.C.
“I think when you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off, and you know, you can’t have them forever,” he said.
“We took some off other people too,” Trump continued. “They can hire their own security too. … I can give them some good numbers of very good security people.”
🚨 OMG. Trump on stripping the security detail away from Anthony Fauci and John Bolton...
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 24, 2025
REPORTER: Would you feel responsible if something were to happen to Fauci or John Bolton?
TRUMP: No. They all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security too. All the people… pic.twitter.com/4vNEFQy2Zo
While some are outraged at the idea that Trump is stripping Fauci of his security detail, the truth is that he hasn’t left Fauci a sitting duck to security threats. As Trump pointed out, he’s got plenty of money, and Fauci has been using his own private security detail for months now.
“Dr. Anthony Fauci is no longer getting a taxpayer-funded security detail and SUVs after the U.S. Marshals Service quietly dropped his nearly two-year $15 million deal,” the Daily Mail reported back in December.
Despite retiring from his $480,000-a-year government job in December 2022, the nation's top COVID doctor received a security detail for almost two years.
During a publicity tour to promote his new book this summer, 83-year-old Fauci said he was scared 'deep down, that there's a possibility that somebody's gonna kill me.'
Dr. Fauci, who has an estimated $11 million net worth, was constantly surrounded by U.S. Marshals at the time whether he was at home or going to TV studios to film interviews.
That cost taxpayers $15 million in total, a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Marshals and the Department of Health and Human Services obtained by DailyMail.com first revealed.
That taxpayer-funded security arrangement quietly ended on September 30, 2024, the documents show, days before the election.
Fauci’s taxpayer-funded security detail ended during Biden’s presidency, not Trump’s. No one cried foul back when this was first reported. I wonder why.
Over the summer, there were at least six U.S. Marshals with a fleet of vehicles parked in Fauci's neighborhood.
The agents were ready for whenever he wanted to leave his property - which according to real estate websites is worth around $2.2 million.
Their Marshals pin badges were clearly visible, and they were on call all times of day for when he needed to travel.
His more recent sightings reveal a much slimmer security operation.
They huddled with Fauci after an outing before departing in a white SUV.
When pressed by DailyMail.com on why the detail was ended, a U.S. Marshals spokesperson responded in a statement: 'The USMS does not disclose information regarding threats that involve protected persons.'
But they indicated that Fauci had begun footing the bill for his own protection.
'A signed memorandum of understanding and reimbursable agreement between the Department of Health and Human Services and USMS regarding the detail have concluded,' the spokesperson added.
Fauci can afford it. The left can move on and express faux outrage over something else now.
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