President Donald Trump removed Hunter and Ashley Biden’s Secret Service detail after learning of the ‘ridiculous’ cost to taxpayers, citing Hunter’s recent trip to South Africa.
Joe Biden gave his children six months of Secret Service protection after he left office. It’s not an unusual move by a president. Trump gave his children six months of protection after his first term.
But Trump blasted Biden’s son for going to South Africa and taking his detail, citing the high cost to the U.S. taxpayer. Hunter’s wife Melissa Cohen is originally from South Africa.
Hunter has 18 agents. Ashley has 13 in her detail.
The president’s announcement came hours after a reporter asked Trump about Hunter’s detail. The president said he had not been aware of it but would look into it.
‘Hunter Biden has had Secret Service protection for an extended period of time, all paid for by the United States Taxpayer.
‘There are as many as 18 people on this Detail, which is ridiculous! He is currently vacationing in, of all places, South Africa, where the Human Rights of people has been strenuously questioned,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
‘Because of this, South Africa has been taken off our list of Countries receiving Economic and Financial Assistance. Please be advised that, effective immediately, Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection. Likewise, Ashley Biden who has 13 agents will be taken off the list.’
Ashley Biden lives and works in Philadelphia.
Typically, former presidents and first ladies are protected by Secret Service for life, but their children are not guaranteed protection after they turn 16 unless the president gives it to them.
Hunter Biden was photographed in Cape Town last week, staying in a $500-a-night beachfront villa.
A Secret Service detail, reported to be made up of 18 agents, was with him.
The cost to the taxpayer could run up to $500,000. Additionally, the Secret Service is stretched thin given their protection of President Trump and his children.
Trump extended Secret Service protection to his four adult children for six months after he left office in 2021.
Democrats criticized the move and its $1.7 million cost.
The Biden children aren’t the only ones to lose their government protection. In the first month of his presidency Trump removed security details for his former National Security Adviser John Bolton and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Hunter Biden was convicted of firearms charges and tax evasion charges until he was pardoned by his father before the elder Biden left office.
Trump announced he was voiding Biden’s pardons but it’s unclear if he can legally do that.
Meanwhile, Hunter claims to be in dire financial straights.
In a filing with a federal court in March, he said he’s struggling to sell his artwork and his book sales have plummeted.
Hunter’s legal letter also claims he has struggled to find a new home for himself, wife Melissa Cohen Biden, 38, and toddler Beau Jr., age four, after the January fires.
‘Like many others in that situation, plaintiff has had difficulty in finding a new permanent place to live as well as finding it difficult to earn a living,’ the letter said.
‘So, plaintiff must focus his time and resources dealing with his relocation, the damage he has incurred due to the fires, and paying for his family’s living expenses as opposed to this litigation.’
The former First Son has significant personal expenses, including a reported $5,000 per month in child support to his six-year-old daughter Navy Joan Roberts with his former assistant Lunden Roberts.
He also owes ex-wife Kathleen Buhle $2.9 million in alimony, according to a June 2024 report by Axios.
Meanwhile, funding for Ashley Biden’s charity is being questioned.
The 43-year-old former first daughter is a social worker whose passion is helping women released from prison
But a top figure from a think tank closely associated with the Trump White House said the quarter-million dollar donation made by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s charitable foundation to Ashley Biden’s group should be thoroughly investigated.
The couple’s non-profit organization, Archewell, was revealed to be a founding partner of Ashley Biden’s initiative, Women’s Wellness (Spa)ce, to which they contributed the six-figure sum, according to the charity’s impact report published last December.
Now Nile Gardiner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, is calling for ‘significant scrutiny’ of the donation made to the Philadelphia-based hub, which has been described as a ‘trauma-informed wellness center’ for women.
The donation was made some time in the 2023-2024 tax year, according to Archewell’s annual report.
Gardiner said there should be ‘full transparency and oversight’ of the $250,000 donation from Archewell.
He said: ‘I do think there should be significant scrutiny of that’.
