President Trump has ordered the Secret Service to stop protecting Hunter Biden and his half-sister Ashley Biden.
The order reverses a move by their father, former President Biden, to extend protection for his adult children for another six months after his term in office ended.
Trump made the news official in a post on Truth Social, which questioned the use of taxpayer money to guard Hunter Biden while he takes a lavish vacation in South Africa - a country Trump has criticized for human rights abuses against white landowners.
"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.
In the post, Trump noted that his administration is cutting off aid to South Africa over its land reform law, which allows the government to take land from white farmers without compensation.
"Because of this, South Africa has been taken off our list of Countries receiving Economic and Financial Assistance," Trump wrote.
"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."
All ex-presidents, their spouses, and children of ex-presidents under 16 are entitled to ongoing Secret Service protection. Presidents may extend that protection to their adult children for up to six months after leaving office. Trump did so with his own family at the end of his first term.
"We are aware of the President’s decision to terminate protection for Hunter and Ashley Biden," the Secret Service told Fox News Digital. "The Secret Service will comply and is actively working with the protective details and the White House to ensure compliance as soon as possible."
Hunter Biden recently won a bid to drop a civil lawsuit against a former Trump aide, Garrett Ziegler, who published the contents of Biden's infamous laptop. Biden said he could no longer afford the court battle after a recent decline in his financial situation.
The New York Post published photos over the weekend of Hunter Biden in Cape Town, South Africa, surrounded by Secret Service.
The report noted that Biden was staying in a $500-per-night "ultra-luxurious designer home with spectacular 180 degrees unobstructed views of the sea.”
A few days later, Trump ended Biden's Secret Service detail.
Hunter Biden received a notorious blanket pardon from his father shortly before the end of the Biden presidency. President Trump has said his predecessor's pardons are invalid because they used an autopen, rather than Biden's own signature.
