Trump ends Secret Service protection for Kamala Harris

According to a copy of the letter reviewed by CNN, President Trump canceled Secret Service protection for Kamala Harris.

Former US presidents receive lifetime Secret Service protection, while Harris, as a former vice president, was entitled to six months of protection after leaving office under federal law.

That period ended on July 21; however, according to several sources familiar with a nonpublic arrangement, her protection had been extended for another year by a directive (still not publicly released) signed by then-President Joe Biden shortly before leaving office.

It was this directive that Trump canceled in his letter titled Memorandum for the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Notably, Trump’s termination of Harris’s protection comes as she is about to embark on a high-profile book tour across several cities promoting her new memoir, 107 Days, about her brief presidential campaign.

The tour is expected to draw more public attention than she has received since leaving office, during which she attended only a few public events.

US presidents and presidential candidates face frequent security threats. During Trump’s presidential campaign last year, for example, he survived two assassination attempts.

According to people familiar with security matters, Harris faced particular security challenges, given that she was the first woman and the first Black woman to hold the office of vice president.

In addition to Harris, agents currently provide protection for former presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and George W. Bush. This added complexity to the planning of President Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

More details on other challenges faced by the US Secret Service in preparing for the Alaska summit can be found in the RBC-Ukraine report.

Earlier this month, former US Vice President Kamala Harris announced she would take a break from political activity, saying she does not want to return to a "broken system."