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Netflix’s gargantuan hit film “KPop Demon Hunters” has captured the global zeitgeist this summer, smashing streaming and music chart records. Now it is coming for movie theaters.An animated musical about a trio of Korean pop starlets who fight demons with infectious songs and synchronized dance moves, “Demon Hunters” has been watched 210 million times and currently has five of the global top 10 songs on Spotify.In an unlikely journey, the streaming mega-hit is tipped by analysts to hit number one at the box office this weekend, with thousands of cosplaying fans headed to sold-out “singalong screenings” in theaters across five countries.”Insane, crazy, surreal,” singer EJAE, who co-wrote the film’s biggest track “Golden” and performs heroine Rumi’s songs, told an advance screening at Netflix’s Hollywood headquarters this week.”I’m just really grateful I’m able to be part of this crazy cultural phenomenon.”For the uninitiated, the film’s premise is bizarre yet simple.Demons who feed on human souls have been trapped in another realm by the powerful voices of girl group HUNTR/X.To fight back, the demons secretly send their own devilishly handsome boy band to steal HUNTR/X’s fans and feast on their essences.Rivalries ensue, loyalties fray, and an unlikely romance evolves over 90 minutes of power ballads and pop earworms, all against anime-style backdrops of Seoul’s modern skyline and traditional bathhouses and thatched hanok homes.Released in June, “KPop Demon Hunters” is already Netflix’s most-watched animated offering, and sits second on the all-time chart for any original film. It is likely to take the top spot within the week.”This movie is a triple threat. It’s got fantastic writing. It has got stunning animation. And the songs are bangers,” said Wendy Lee Szany, a Los Angeles-based movie critic and KPop devotee.Indeed, songs by the movie’s fictional HUNTR/X and boy-band rivals Saja Boys occupy three of the Billboard top 10 — a feat no movie soundtrack has achieved since the 1990s.- ‘Memes’ -While combining the global KPop craze with sexy supernatural monsters might sound like an obvious recipe for Netflix’s much-vaunted algorithm, nobody expected “Demon Hunters” to take off on this scale.It was made by Hollywood studio Sony Pictures, intended for the big screen, but sold to Netflix during the pandemic when many theaters were shuttered.That may have worked to the film’s advantage, said John Nguyen, founder of pop culture website Nerd Reactor.”If Sony had released it in theaters, I don’t think it would have been as big,” he said.”It’s word-of-mouth. People shared it, talked about it, posted videos on social media of fans and families singing along in their living rooms.”Endless homespun TikTok dance videos have added to the momentum.”People who haven’t seen the movie yet are seeing these memes, they can’t escape it, so they just end up like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna sit down this weekend (and watch) on Netflix,” said Szany.”And then they fall in love with it.”- ‘Shattered’ -Seeking to capitalize, Netflix — usually averse to movie theaters — is hosting “singalongs” at 1,700 North American cinemas this weekend.Fans are invited to dress up, whip their phones out and film themselves singing at their top of their voices.The approach has cinema traditionalists despairing, but earned Taylor Swift’s concert movie $260 million at the box office in 2023.Early estimates suggest “KPop Demon Hunters” could make $15 million in domestic theaters and top this weekend’s box office.Analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said that figure seemed “reasonable… for now,” but could get “shattered” if a rush of demand causes theater owners to add extra screenings. That would be a welcome shot in the arm for movie theaters, after the bleak years of Covid-19, Hollywood strikes, and younger audiences migrating to — ironically — streaming.”There were literally so many kids singing their hearts out,” said Szany, who attended Netflix’s advance singalong, and has watched the film at least eight times.”I was like, wow, they know all the lyrics better than I do.” 

A wrongly deported Salvadoran man sent back to the United States during a fierce row over President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies was released Friday from prison, where he had been detained on human smuggling charges.The US Supreme Court had ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia after the government admitted it had mistakenly sent him to a notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador in March.He was returned in June, and then quickly arrested and charged with trafficking undocumented migrants. On Friday, he was released from prison in Tennessee at the order of a US judge.Migrant rights organization CASA released a statement quoting Abrego Garcia as saying it was a “very special day” after seeing his family for the first time in more than 160 days.”We are steps closer to justice, but justice has not been fully served,” the Salvadoran said, according to CASA, which hailed him as a “symbol of strength, resistance and hope.”The case has become emblematic of Trump’s crackdown on illegal migration.Right-wing supporters praise the Republican president’s toughness, but legal scholars and human rights advocates have blasted what they say is a haphazard rush to deport people in violation of basic US laws.Abrego Garcia’s attorney Sean Hecker, who earlier confirmed that his client was heading home to the eastern US state of Maryland, accused Trump’s government of a “vindictive attack on a man who had the courage to fight back against the administration’s continuing assault on the rule of law.”Hecker said his client was “grateful that his access to American courts has provided meaningful due process.”But the saga may not be over for the Salvadoran, who is married to a US citizen.- Uganda deportation threat -The Trump administration is not barred from initiating “lawful immigration proceedings upon Abrego Garcia’s return to Maryland” — provided it gives 72 hours’ notice before deporting him to a third country — under a July federal court ruling.Multiple US media outlets reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had notified his legal team that he had been ordered to report to immigration officials in Baltimore on Monday, and may be sent to the East African nation of Uganda.DHS did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the reports, but the State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken on Thursday with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.US relations with Uganda deteriorated under Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden over its anti-homosexuality law, which in some cases allows for the death penalty. But the State Department under Rubio has sharply curbed criticism.The White House called Abrego Garcia’s release an “insult,” describing him as a “criminal illegal alien, wife-beater” and member of Salvadoran gang MS-13. “Garcia will be subject to ankle monitoring to ensure the safety of the American public until further action can be taken,” Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson posted on X.Abrego Garcia had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country.Then he became one of more than 200 people sent to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison as part of Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants.But Justice Department lawyers admitted that the Salvadoran had been wrongly deported due to an “administrative error.”Abrego Garcia — who denies wrongdoing — now stands accused of involvement in smuggling undocumented migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and other countries into the United States between 2016 and earlier this year.His trial in his human smuggling case is set to begin in January 2027.

Five passengers aboard a tourist bus were killed Friday when their driver got distracted and crashed on a New York state highway, police said.The wreck happened 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Buffalo as the tourists headed back to New York City after visiting Niagara Falls.The passengers were of Indian, Chinese and Filipino origin, authorities said.”It’s believed the operator became distracted, lost control, over corrected and ended up… over there,” said New York state police commander major Andre Ray at the scene Friday evening, giving the toll for the first time.No one else was in a life-threatening condition, Ray said. Several passengers received medical treatment and were released.Fifty-four people were on the bus when it crashed and no children were killed, US media reported, contradicting an earlier police briefing.The bus had traveled to Niagara Falls, on the border with Canada, for the day and was heading home when the accident took place on a highway near Pembroke.- Mechanical error ‘ruled out’ -“Mechanical error was ruled out as well as impairment or intoxication,” said Ray, who added that no charges had been brought. Translators were sent to the scene to help communicate with the victims.Eight helicopters were involved in the rescue effort, Margaret Ferrentino, president of Mercy Flight, a nonprofit provider of air ambulance services, told AFP. “The driver is alive and well — we’re working with him. We believe we have a good idea of what happened, why the bus lost control. We just want to make sure that all the details are thoroughly vetted,” a police spokesman said earlier.State Governor Kathy Hochul said her team was coordinating with state police and local officials “who are working to rescue and provide assistance to everyone involved.”Blood and organ donor network Connect Life issued a call for blood donors to come forward in the wake of the crash.”I’m heartbroken for all those we’ve lost and all those injured and praying for their families. Thank you to our brave first responders on the scene,” said the senior US senator from New York, Chuck Schumer.Niagara Falls — towering waterfalls that span the US-Canada border — is a popular tourist destination.

Chipmaker Intel has agreed to give the US government a 10-percent stake in its business, the company and President Donald Trump announced Friday.The deal came after Trump’s administration said Intel should give Washington an equity stake in exchange for large grants committed when Joe Biden was president.Under the agreement, the US government will receive 433.3 million shares of common stock, representing a 9.9 percent stake in the company, Intel said in a statement.This amounts to an $8.9 billion investment, funded partially by $5.7 billion in grants awarded but not yet paid under the CHIPS and Science Act — a major law passed during Biden’s term that Trump has criticized.The other $3.2 billion comes from an award to the company as part of the Secure Enclave program, Intel said.The $8.9 billion investment would be in addition to $2.2 billion in CHIPS grants Intel has already received, taking the full amount to $11.1 billion, the company added.”The United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL,” Trump posted on Truth Social.He claimed that the country “paid nothing for these shares” after negotiations with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.Intel noted in its statement: “The government’s investment in Intel will be a passive ownership, with no board representation or other governance or information rights.”Referring to a meeting with Intel last week, Trump told reporters Friday: “I said, I think you should pay us 10 percent of your company.””I said, I think it would be good having the United States as your partner… they’ve agreed to do it, and I think it’s a great deal for them.”Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Friday on X: “This historic agreement strengthens US leadership in semiconductors.”- ‘Slippery slope’ – Intel is one of Silicon Valley’s most iconic companies, but its fortunes have been dwarfed by Asian powerhouses TSMC and Samsung, which dominate the made-to-order semiconductor business. The CHIPS and Science Act was aimed at strengthening the US semiconductor industry, and the Biden administration had unveiled billions in grants through it.It finalized a $7.9 billion award in direct funding to Intel in November 2024, according to a US Department of Commerce statement.”This is a slippery slope,” independent tech analyst Rob Enderle said of the United States taking a stake in Intel. “This is one of those things that kind of brings chills because it’s a step toward nationalizing private business.”Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank that promotes limited government, said on X Friday that the government having a stake in Intel would be “a terrible decision, bad for almost everyone.”He said it would be “bad for Intel’s long-term viability, as politics, not commercial considerations, increasingly drive its decisions” and that “foreign governments might also target it.”In a statement, Tan of Intel said it is “deeply committed to ensuring the world’s most advanced technologies are American made.”The company said it is investing more than $100 billion to expand its US sites.Earlier this month, Trump had demanded Tan resign after a Republican senator raised national security concerns over his links to firms in China.Japan-based tech investor SoftBank Group also recently said it would invest $2 billion in Intel.

The head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and two other senior officers are being removed, officials said Friday — the latest in a series of military firings this year.The removal of Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, who led the DIA since early 2024, comes after the agency produced a preliminary assessment that said US strikes on Iran set back Tehran’s nuclear program by just a few months.The assessment — which was widely reported on by US media — contradicted claims from President Donald Trump that the strikes totally destroyed the nuclear sites, drawing the ire of both him and officials within his administration.Kruse “will no longer serve as DIA director,” a senior defense official said on condition of anonymity, without providing an explanation for the general’s departure.Prior to becoming director of the DIA, Kruse served as the advisor for military affairs for the director of national intelligence, and also held positions including director of intelligence for the coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group.A US official separately said on condition of anonymity that two other senior officers — Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore, chief of Navy Reserve, and Rear Admiral Milton Sands, commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command — were also leaving their positions.- Series of top officers fired -In June, the United States launched a massive operation against three Iranian nuclear sites, an effort that involved more than 125 US aircraft as well as a guided missile submarine.Trump called the strikes a “spectacular military success” and repeatedly said they “obliterated” the nuclear sites, but the DIA’s preliminary assessment raised doubts about the president’s claims.The Trump administration responded with an offensive against the media, insisting the operation was a total success and berating journalists for reporting on the assessment.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted the assessment was “leaked because someone had an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn’t successful,” and slammed “fawning coverage of a preliminary assessment.”Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has overseen a purge of top military officers, including chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff general Charles “CQ” Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February.Other senior officers dismissed this year include the heads of the Navy and Coast Guard, the general who headed the National Security Agency, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, a Navy admiral assigned to NATO, and three top military lawyers.The chief of staff of the Air Force also recently announced his retirement without explanation just two years into a four-year term.Hegseth has insisted the president is simply choosing the leaders he wants, but Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about the potential politicization of the traditionally neutral US military.Earlier this year, the Pentagon chief additionally ordered at least a 20 percent reduction in the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the US military, as well as a 10 percent cut in the overall number of general and flag officers.

President Donald Trump on Friday tapped close political aide Sergio Gor as US ambassador to India, sending one of his feared enforcers at a delicate time in ties with New Delhi.The 38-year-old Gor rose quickly in conservative politics to become one of the most powerful, if low-profile, aides in the White House with a task of vetting some 4,000 appointees to ensure utmost loyalty to Trump.Gor’s enemies include Elon Musk, who following his spectacular falling-out with Trump branded Gor a “snake” after he scuttled the tech and aerospace billionaire’s choice to lead NASA.Gor’s influence does not include extensive experience in foreign policy, beyond joining travel overseas and leading a purge of National Security Council staffers whose views were called into suspicion.”For the most populous Region in the World, it is important that I have someone I can fully trust to deliver on my Agenda and help us, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.”Sergio will make an incredible Ambassador,” he wrote.Trump wrote that Gor would also hold a role of special envoy for South and Central Asia. Trump has largely sidelined traditional diplomats and relied for diplomacy on personal friends, with the State Department’s top position for South Asia still vacant.The nomination comes after a spike in tensions with India, which the United States has prioritized as an emerging partner since the 1990s.Trump has moved to ramp up tariffs on India to pressure it over its purchases of energy from Russia, despite Trump’s own diplomacy with counterpart Vladimir Putin.India in recent days has held top-level meetings with both Russia and China. Successive US administrations have viewed India as a balance against China, seen as the top US global rival.Trump has spoken of brokering between India and Pakistan after they reached a ceasefire in a brief conflict in May, although India has been hesitant on any direct US role.- Political insider -Gor was born in Uzbekistan when it was still in the Soviet Union — a background on which he has been discreet — before moving as a child to Malta.After attending university in the United States, he became active in Republican Party politics, eventually taking top positions with Senator Rand Paul, a leading Republican critic of foreign interventionism, then working as a fund-raiser and book publisher for Trump — and as an amateur wedding DJ.In his post, Trump hailed Gor’s work as director of presidential personnel, saying that 95 percent of positions have been filled and that he will stay on until the Republican-led Senate confirms him as ambassador.Secretary of State Marco Rubio quickly endorsed Gor on X, saying he would be an “excellent representative of America in one of the most important relationships our nation has in the world.”Trump named an ambassador to India later than for many other major countries. While presidents have often tapped political aides as ambassador — former president Joe Biden sent former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to Tokyo — India has an illustrious history of seeing public intellectuals as ambassador. US ambassadors to India have included prominent economist John Kenneth Galbraith and the social scientist and future senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.Biden’s ambassador to India was Eric Garcetti, a former mayor of Los Angeles known for his interest in Indian philosophy and who had studied Hindi and Urdu as a young man.

US President Donald Trump announced Friday that the draw for the 2026 World Cup will be held in Washington on December 5 — and then jokingly asked if he could keep the golden trophy for himself.The draw for the 48-team football championship will be held at the Kennedy Center in the US capital, where Trump recently installed himself as chairman in what he called a war on “woke” culture.”It’s the biggest, probably the biggest event in sports,” Trump, flanked by FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, said as he made the announcement in the Oval Office of the White House.The 2026 World Cup is being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico next year, and Trump has made a big deal about it happening during his presidency.Infantino, who has fostered close ties with the billionaire US president, brought the World Cup with him for the announcement and even let Trump get his hands on it.”Only the FIFA president, presidents of countries, and then those who win can touch it, because it’s for winners only. And since you are a winner, of course you can as well touch it,” Infantino said.”Can I keep it?” replied Trump, who won a second term in the White House last year, as he lifted the trophy with both hands. “That’s a beautiful piece of gold.”Trump appeared to be joking — although the separate FIFA Club World Cup trophy remains in the Oval Office more than a month after English side Chelsea won it in New Jersey last month.- Putin ‘may be coming and he may not’ -There was a brief moment of nerves as Trump appeared to fumble the World Cup before placing it on his desk — as Infantino reached out a hand to steady it.Infantino later presented the US leader with a giant ticket — Row 1 Seat 1 — for the World Cup final on July 19 at the MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just outside New York.Trump also suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin may attend the World Cup.Holding up a photo that he said Putin had sent him after their summit in Alaska last week, Trump said the Kremlin chief “wants to be there very badly,” but that he “may be coming and he may not” depending on the outcome of Ukraine peace efforts.The United States was named as a joint host of the 2026 World Cup during Trump’s first term as president in 2018. He lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden but won a second term last year.Since his return to power, Trump has launched a major crackdown on immigration, but he said it would be “very easy” for most World Cup fans to get a visa.For visitors from some countries, it would be “obviously a little bit more difficult,” said Trump, who has banned all travelers from 12 nations including Afghanistan, Haiti and Iran.- ‘Trump-Kennedy Center’ -The World Cup draw was reportedly due to be held in Las Vegas but the new venue has more political overtones.Trump led a takeover of the Kennedy Center earlier this year, saying that the venerable performing arts venue named after late Democratic president John F. Kennedy had become too “woke.”He added on Friday as he made the announcement that “some people refer to it as the Trump-Kennedy Center, but we’re not prepared to do that quite yet, maybe in a week or so.” Trump visited the Kennedy Center just before the Oval Office announcement on Friday. He has said he is going to make major improvements to “beautify” it, including adding marble cladding.The US president also hailed a major federal crime crackdown in Washington that has seen US National Guard troops deployed on the streets of the capital.Trump said the move would make Washington safe for football fans visiting the city during next year’s tournament.

Multiple tourists were killed and others injured Friday when a bus carrying more than 50 sightseers home from a visit to Niagara Falls crashed in New York state, officials said.Police said many of the passengers heading back to New York City were of Indian, Chinese and Filipino descent.State police spokesman James O’Callaghan told reporters the bus had traveled to Niagara Falls, on the border with Canada, for the day and was heading home when the accident took place east of Buffalo.”For unknown reasons, the vehicle lost control, went into the median, overcorrected and ended up in the ditch,” O’Callaghan said.”This bus was going full speed. It did not hit any other vehicle.”The police spokesman said people were still trapped in the wreckage, while others were ejected on impact. Images broadcast on local television showed the heavily damaged bus on its side.Translators were sent to the scene to help communicate with the victims.At least one child was among the dead, the spokesman said, without offering a specific death toll.”There are many serious injuries, and as was just announced by New York State Police, there are multiple fatalities,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said on X.At least 21 people were taken to Erie County Medical Center, a hospital official told AFP.- ‘Heartbroken’ -Eight helicopters were involved in the rescue effort, Margaret Ferrentino, president of Mercy Flight, a nonprofit provider of air ambulance services, told AFP. “The driver is alive and well — we’re working with him. We believe we have a good idea of what happened, why the bus lost control. We just want to make sure that all the details are thoroughly vetted,” O’Callaghan said.State Governor Kathy Hochul said her team was coordinating with state police and local officials “who are working to rescue and provide assistance to everyone involved.””I’m heartbroken for all those we’ve lost and all those injured and praying for their families. Thank you to our brave first responders on the scene,” said the senior US senator from New York, Chuck Schumer.Niagara Falls — towering waterfalls that span the US-Canada border — is a popular tourist destination.

A Gambian man convicted of torturing opponents of the African country’s former president was sentenced to more than 67 years in a US prison on Friday.Michael Sang Correa, 46, served in an armed unit known as the “Junglers,” which answered to The Gambia’s then-president, Yahya Jammeh.Correa was convicted by a jury in Denver, Colorado, in April of torturing people because of suspicions they had plotted against Jammeh.The Justice Department said the torture included burning victims with molten plastic and subjecting them to vicious beatings.”Today, Michael Correa has finally been held accountable for the brutal violence he inflicted on others,” acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti said in a statement.”The United States will not be a safe haven for individuals who seek to conceal their egregious human rights violations.”Jurors in Colorado heard how in March 2006, shortly after a failed coup attempt, the Junglers took their victims to The Gambia’s main prison.Over the next two months, they beat, stabbed, burned, and electroshocked their victims, including some on their genitals.One man testified that he had his thigh burned by molten plastic; another told of how he was suffocated, while others spoke of being pistol whipped, burned with cigarettes and hit in the face with a hammer.Correa was convicted of five counts of torture and one of conspiracy to commit torture.Correa entered the United States in 2016 to work as a bodyguard for The Gambia’s vice president, who was visiting the United Nations.He stayed in the country and moved to Denver at some point after Jammeh, who ruled the country with an iron fist from 1994 to 2017, was voted out of office.Correa was arrested by US authorities in September 2019, initially for overstaying his visa.The paramilitary Junglers operated outside the Gambian army’s chain of command, taking orders directly from Jammeh, and have been accused by watchdog groups of carrying out widespread human rights violations.Another member of the Junglers, Bai Lowe, was sentenced to life in prison in Germany in November 2023 after being convicted of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder.A Swiss court sentenced Gambian ex-interior minister Ousman Sonko to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity committed under the Jammeh regime.Victims of the Junglers included an AFP correspondent, Deyda Hydara, who was gunned down in his car on the outskirts of Gambia’s capital Banjul on December 16, 2004.

FBI agents raided the home and office on Friday of former national security advisor John Bolton, one of US President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics, in an investigation officials said was linked to classified documents.Trump, asked about the FBI searches, said he was “not a fan” of his former aide but did not know about the law enforcement operation ahead of time.The FBI declined to comment on the coordinated raids of Bolton’s home in the Washington suburb of Bethesda and his downtown office in the nation’s capital, but FBI director Kash Patel posted “NO ONE is above the law” on X as they were taking place.”We’re in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation into John Bolton,” Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with NBC News.”Classified documents are certainly part of it,” Vance said, and there was also “broad concern” about Bolton. He did not elaborate.Vance denied Bolton was being targeted because of his criticism of the president.”No, not at all,” he said. “Our focus here is on, did he break the law? Did he commit crimes against the American people? If so, then he deserves to be prosecuted.”Democratic lawmaker Jamie Raskin, whose Maryland congressional district includes Bolton’s neighborhood, called the raid “disturbing.””This looks like it’s very much in line with the other acts of political retribution and vengeance exacted against Bolton,” Raskin told CNN.- Trump calls Bolton ‘sleazebag’ – Trump, in comments to reporters in the Oval Office, noted that his own Mar-a-Lago home was raided by the FBI after he left the White House as part of a probe into the mishandling of classified documents.”They went through everything they could, including my young son’s room and my wife’s area,” the president said.As for Bolton, he called him a “sleazebag” suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.”The now 76-year-old Bolton served as Trump’s national security advisor in his first term and later angered the administration with the publication of a highly critical book, “The Room Where it Happened.”Legal efforts to block its release for allegedly containing classified information were dropped when Joe Biden replaced Trump in the White House in 2021.  Bolton has since become a highly visible and pugnacious critic of Trump, frequently appearing on television news shows and in print to condemn the man he has called “unfit to be president.”A longtime critic of the Iranian regime, Bolton was a national security hawk and has received death threats from Tehran.- ‘Retribution presidency’ -The raid by the FBI came seven months after Trump stripped Bolton — and multiple other foes — of federal protective details.Asked recently in an interview with ABC whether he was worried about Trump “coming after” him, Bolton said: “He’s already come after me and several others in withdrawing the protection that we had.””I think it is a retribution presidency,” Bolton said.Since taking office in January, Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies and political opponents.He has stripped former officials of their security clearances, targeted law firms involved in past cases against him and pulled federal funding from universities.The FBI opened criminal investigations in July into two other prominent Trump critics, former FBI director James Comey and ex-CIA chief John Brennan. Trump was the target of several investigations after leaving the White House and the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home in 2022 as part of the probe into mishandling of classified documents.Trump was also charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.Neither case came to trial, and Smith — in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president — dropped them both after Trump won the November 2024 presidential election.