Trump dismisses Bettendorf grad from national think tank board, revokes security detail

On the first day of Donald Trump's second presidency, among his flurry of executive actions, he dismissed four people in presidential appointed positions via his social media platform Truth Social.

Among them was a Bettendorf High School graduate, Brian Hook, who had been serving on the board of trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution. The center, chartered by Congress, provides nonpartisan counsel and insights on global affairs to policymakers.

Hook graduated from Bettendorf High School in 1986. He also is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law.

Before joining Cerberus Global Investments in 2021, Hook served in the first Trump administration as senior advisor to secretaries of state Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo. Hook also served as the special representative for Iran and as director of the state department's policy planning staff.

In his role as a representative to Iran during the first Trump administration, Hook was a key official during peace negotiations in the Middle East that resulted in an agreement signed in 2020 known as the Abraham Peace Accords.

According to a report published Thursday by the New York Times, Trump revoked security details for Pompeo and Hook on Tuesday despite warnings from the Biden administration that both men faced ongoing threats from Iran because of actions they took on Trump's behalf.

Pompeo and Hook had been part of an aggressive stance against Iran during the first Trump administration, according to the New York Times, including the drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in early 2020. On Monday, Trump pulled the Secret Service detail of former national security adviser John Bolton, according to the New York Times.

Former senior U.S. officials are not automatically granted ongoing protection, but the Biden administration had granted it for Pompeo, Hook and Bolton because of threat assessments from the intelligence community that their risk level remained high, according to the New York Times' report.

According to the New York Times' report, Trump has told people he does not want anyone working for him who worked under Pompeo in his first term.

Hook also served in the administrations of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. For the latter, Hook became the special assistant to the president for policy in the Chief of Staff's Office, according to previous reporting.

He also worked for former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach.

Hook was inducted into the Bettendorf High School Hall of Honor in 2009.