--- title: Adm. William McRaven Criticizes Trump on Security Clearances description: The Navy admiral who oversaw the 2011 mission to kill Osama Bin Laden said President Donald Trump has “humiliated” and “divided” America. canonical: https://time.com/5370207/admiral-william-mcraven-donald-trump-security-clearance/ author: Billy Perrigo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-17T12:24:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:13.646Z article:section: Politics og:title: Admiral Who Led Bin Laden Raid Tells President Trump to Revoke His Security Clearance, Too og:description: 13 former intelligence chiefs released a statement backing Brennan and calling Trump's attacks "ill-considered and unprecedented" og:url: https://time.com/5370207/admiral-william-mcraven-donald-trump-security-clearance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72af33a4401eaccf/698937f80a4a222ae29d374f/gettyimages-117588389.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Allen, Thurman and McRaven Testify at Nomination Hearing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Admiral Who Led Bin Laden Raid Tells President Trump to Revoke His Security Clearance, Too twitter:description: 13 former intelligence chiefs released a statement backing Brennan and calling Trump's attacks "ill-considered and unprecedented" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72af33a4401eaccf/698937f80a4a222ae29d374f/gettyimages-117588389.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Admiral Who Led Bin Laden Raid Tells President Trump to Revoke His Security Clearance, Too ## Video: Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eaxgZ3fP.m3u8) (1:42)  _Published 2018-08-15. Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others_  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Aug 17, 2018 12:24 PM UTC  June 28: Vice Adm. William H. McRaven, nominated to be admiral and commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; during the Senate Armed Services hearing on his nomination. June 28: Vice Adm. William H. McRaven, nominated to be admiral and commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; during the Senate Armed Services hearing on his nomination.Scott J. Ferrell—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Aug 17, 2018 12:24 PM UTC The Navy admiral who oversaw the 2011 mission to kill Osama Bin Laden has criticized President Donald Trump for revoking former CIA director [John Brennan’s](http://time.com/5368970/john-brennan-trump-silence-critics/) security clearance – saying the President has “humiliated” and “divided” America. Retired Adm. William H. McRaven, a former Navy SEAL and commander of Joint Special Operations Command, wrote an open letter in the [Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/revoke-my-security-clearance-too-mr-president/2018/08/16/8b149b02-a178-11e8-93e3-24d1703d2a7a%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.610522e5b1bb) Thursday in which he asked Trump to revoke his security clearance, as well. McRaven adds to the growing chorus of criticism over Trump’s targeting of Brennan and other former intelligence and security officials who have spoken out against him. On Thursday and early Friday, 13 former intelligence chiefs – including former CIA director General David Petraeus and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates – released a statement backing Brennan and calling Trump’s attacks “ill-considered and unprecedented.” McRaven, in his letter in the _Post_, said Brennan was “one of the finest public servants I have ever known,” adding that he “would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.” He added: “Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.” The White House announced Wednesday that [Trump had revoked Brennan’s security clearance](http://time.com/5368352/donald-trump-john-brennan-cia-security-clearance/), with the President citing “erratic conduct” and “outrageous allegations.” Brennan hit back on Thursday, saying that his involvement in the investigation into Russian involvement in Trump’s 2016 election victory was the reason for his dismissal. Trump said he was also considering revoking security clearance for others, including former FBI Director James Comey, former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. All of the names on Trump’s list have either been publicly critical of him, or were involved in the investigation of the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election. Below is the full text of the letter signed by 13 former senior intelligence officials: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5370207/admiral-william-mcraven-donald-trump-security-clearance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5370207/admiral-william-mcraven-donald-trump-security-clearance/"},"headline":"Admiral Who Led Bin Laden Raid Tells President Trump to Revoke His Security Clearance, Too","datePublished":"2018-08-17T12:24:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:13.646Z","description":"Thirteen former intelligence chiefs – including David Petraeus Robert Gates – released a statement backing Brennan and calling Trump's attacks \"ill-considered and unprecedented\"","url":"https://time.com/5370207/admiral-william-mcraven-donald-trump-security-clearance/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Military","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72af33a4401eaccf/698937f80a4a222ae29d374f/gettyimages-117588389.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Billy Perrigo","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72af33a4401eaccf/698937f80a4a222ae29d374f/gettyimages-117588389.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Allen, Thurman and McRaven Testify at Nomination Hearing","caption":"Allen, Thurman and McRaven Testify at Nomination Hearing","creditText":"Scott J. Ferrell—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5370207/admiral-william-mcraven-donald-trump-security-clearance/","name":"Admiral Who Led Bin Laden Raid Tells President Trump to Revoke His Security Clearance, Too"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others","description":"Trump Revoking Security Clearance of Former CIA Director Brennan, Mulling Others","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/eaxgZ3fP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-08-15T19:13:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eaxgZ3fP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5370207/admiral-william-mcraven-donald-trump-security-clearance/","duration":"PT1M42S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5370207/admiral-william-mcraven-donald-trump-security-clearance/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```