Resigning today as National Security Adviser, 70-yeard John R. Bolton, finished his tumultuous term, started April 8, 2018 when he replaced 73-year-old President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. While replacing McMaster with Bolton over the objections of many in the White House and Congress, Bolton did the same while serving his former boss, George W. Bush as U.N. Ambassador Aug. 2, 2005 to Dec. 31, 2006, creating too many headlines expressing his hawkish foreign policy views, regardless of his boss’s policy. Bolton got too big for his britches again with Trump, leaning too much on military action, often serving as “bad cop” to 55-year-old Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump told Bolton last night that his services were no longer needed, asking him to submit his resignation at the earliest possible time, which happened today.
Bolton had his own version of what went down, insisting that his resignation was all his own, something that doesn’t jibe with Trump’s views which had been developing for months. When Bolton was suspected of leaking to the media, that pushed Trump to ask for his resignation sooner. “And the president said, ‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow,” Bolton insisted, trying to save face. But make no mistake about it, Trump was fed up with Bolton jabbering to the media, especially on major foreign policy issues like North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Syria and Venezuela. Trump wanted a NSA to defer to his judgment, instead getting one that wanted the media spotlight. Trump noted over time that Bolton was too quick to use the U.S. Armed Services to deal with foreign policy challenges best left to diplomacy. Trump put Bolton on notice months ago that he didn’t appreciate his tendency to solve all problems with the U.S. military.
When it came to North Korea, Bolton was too vocal about maintaining the pressure on dictator Kim Jong-un, urging Trump to take the more hawkish approach, hitting North Korea with more sanctions. Bolton minced no words about Russia, often blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for interfering in the internal affairs of many countries. Trump was fed up for months watching Bolton shoot off his mouth to the media, often appearing ad odds with his boss. When it came to Syria, Bolton publicly feuded with Trump on whether or not to remove U.S. troops from Syria. While Bolton had his backers in Congress, like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.-S.C.), he often disagreed with Trump, especially on negotiating with the Taliban. Whether Bolton was right-or-wrong, he disagreed with the president too often. Bolton openly opposed Trump’s meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Bolton ran his national security staff like they set policy for the White House. . Bolton opposed French President Emanuel Macron’s attempt to arrange a meeting between Trump and Rouhani on the sidelines of the Sept. 17-30 U.N. General Assembly. Bolton ran his department like he was setting U.S. foreign policy, overstepping his boundaries with Trump. Bolton urged Trump on many occasions to take military action against Iran for its interference in global commerce in the Persian Gulf. Trump wanted Bolton to serve the White House, not set foreign policy, running afoul with Trump foreign policy objectives. Unlike Bolton, Trump wanted to negotiate his way out of foreign policy challenges but not from the barrel of a gun. When Trump cancelled U.S. contact with the Taliban, Bolton ran his own lobbying campaign to prevent Trump meeting with the Afghan insurgent group.
Democrats jumped all over news that Bolton was essentially fired. “I’m legitimately shaken by the grave inability of American foreign policy today,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), concerned about Trump’s high turnover on his foreign policy team. “I’m no Bolton fan, but the world is coming apart, and the revolving door of U.S. leadership is disappearing America from the world just at the moment where a stable American hand is most needed,” Murphy said, making it all about Trump. Yet Murphy prefers to make political hay rather than give Trump his due. Murphy knows that Bolton as a bigger backer of former President George W. Bush’s Iraq War, something Trump campaigned against. You’d think Democrats like Murphy would applaud Trump’s decision to get rid of Bolton. Democrats give Trump no credit when he makes abrupt personnel decisions.
Trump got rid of Bolton because he was a bit of a media hound, acting like he was setting U.S. foreign policy. Trump complained for months about Bolton’s propensity to use the military as a solution to most foreign policy challenges, just the way he backed the Iraq War to resolve any differences with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Opposing Trump openly on Syria and, more recently, meeting with the Taliban, Bolton stepped out of line for a National Security Adviser. Trump got a kick out of Bolton until he ran afoul with Trump’s own foreign policy, especially when it came to Syria, Russia, North Korea and Venezuela. Bolton’s public remarks were encouraged by the media, doing anything to grab headlines, even when they ran afoul with Trump. Like other Trump appointees that got the ax, Bolton was no exception, grabbing too many headlines when he should have deferred to Trump.
