He was already out of the loop. But Trump is simply lying about why it was done. It was 100% political, and is part of his use of federal power to go after his political enemies.
Trump cultists will dredge the record for similar instances, which they think will exonerate their leader. But hey, their moral code was getting them nowhere, so they just threw it in the trash.
The opinion piece below is from a lifelong GOP member, former advisor to Condi Rice.
Link: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/07/trumps-threat-to-pull-clearances-is-ignorantand-scary/566024/?utm_source=twb