Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who was one of the nation’s top health officials for decades, had received death threats during the coronavirus pandemic. He has hired his own security detail.
President Trump said on Friday that he had terminated taxpayer-financed security protection for Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the infectious disease specialist who led the nation through the coronavirus pandemic and received death threats after becoming a target of conservatives.
The move, which took effect on Thursday night, made Dr. Fauci the latest prominent former official to lose his security detail since Mr. Trump returned to the White House. It came after Dr. Fauci’s chief critic on Capitol Hill, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, publicly called for Dr. Fauci’s security to be withdrawn. Mr. Trump agreed.
“When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off and, you know, you can’t have them forever,” Mr. Trump said on a trip to North Carolina.
He suggested that Dr. Fauci, who retired from government service in December 2022, hire private security. “I can give them some good numbers of some very good security people,” the president said.
A source familiar with the matter revealed that Dr. Fauci had taken steps to secure his own safety and now had a dedicated security detail. When asked about the situation, Mr. Trump told reporters he would not feel responsible if harm came to Dr. Fauci.
Dr. Fauci, who served in government for over 50 years and led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for three decades, advised presidents from Ronald Reagan to Joseph R. Biden Jr., including Mr. Trump. However, his relationship with Mr. Trump was marked by tension. In his memoir released last year, Dr. Fauci described their interactions as “complicated.”
In a chapter titled “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not,” Dr. Fauci recounted how Mr. Trump frequently professed admiration for him, saying he “loved” him, while simultaneously unleashing profanity-laden tirades against him. On several occasions, Mr. Trump publicly suggested firing Dr. Fauci, a sentiment echoed by other Republicans, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who criticized Dr. Fauci during political campaigns.
The threats against Dr. Fauci were not limited to rhetoric. In May 2022, a West Virginia man pleaded guilty to sending emails threatening to kill Dr. Fauci and his family, as well as other federal officials.
Mr. Trump’s stance on Dr. Fauci’s security came shortly after he revoked State Department security details for two former officials—Mike Pompeo, his secretary of state, and Brian Hook, a former top aide. Both faced ongoing threats from Iran due to actions taken during Mr. Trump’s first administration.
Mr. Trump also ended the Secret Service protection for another former aide turned outspoken critic, John R. Bolton, his former national security adviser.
Dr. Fauci, however, never had Secret Service protection. Instead, he was safeguarded by federal marshals and later by a private security contractor funded by the government, according to a U.S. Marshals Service spokeswoman, who declined to provide additional details.
On Thursday, Senator Rand Paul took to social media, claiming he had “sent supporting information to end the 24-hour-a-day limo and security detail for Fauci,” adding, “I wish him nothing but peace, but he needs to pay for his own limos.”
Earlier that day, Senator Paul had criticized President Biden’s pre-emptive pardon for Dr. Fauci during a Fox News appearance, asserting that by accepting the pardon, Dr. Fauci was “accepting his guilt.”
Dr. Fauci declined to comment on Friday. However, in a statement released after the pardon was issued, he emphasized his lengthy career in public service and denied any wrongdoing.
“Let me be perfectly clear,” Dr. Fauci said in the statement. “I have committed no crime, and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution against me.”
