John Bolton would have convicted Trump, he says he is not “competent.”
In his new book, John Bolton issues a poignant criticism of Donald Trump as president.
USA TODAY
News reports show that during his first term, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser searched for Bethesda, Maryland, where Bethesda was searched at his home by federal agents.
According to the New York Post and CNN, the search is part of a national security investigation ordered by FBI director Kash Patel.
Bolton, who served in President Donald Trump’s first term, has been a voice critic of the administration’s foreign policy since leaving his post in 2019, calling it unfit to serve. Trump previously revoked his security clearance after a clash over Bolton security details and policies.
Things you need to know about John Bolton.
Who is John Bolton?
Bolton, 76, is a Yale graduate, lawyer and diplomat who spent decades in several Republican administrations before becoming known for his neoconservative foreign policy stance.
According to the publisher’s biography, Bolton was also a lawyer and opened privately in Washington, D.C. from 1974 to 2018, except for government hours. From almost 1981 to 1993, Bolton worked for several federal agencies, including the United States Organization for International Development (USAID), the Department of Justice and the Department of State.
He was under the Secretary of State for arms control and international security for several years from 2005 to 2006 before former President George W. Bush appointed him as UN ambassador.
He has long advocated for the use of American military force, including the aggressive US foreign policy and the first right to oppose potential threats. He was a strong supporter of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and has since defended his role in promoting the war.
In an interview with NPR in March 2023, looking back at the decades of war, Bolton confronted his decision.
“Terrorist groups were still in the Middle East and around the world,” Bolton said. He mentioned the period after the attack on 9/11. “What is the wisest? My view is then, and today the wisest thing is to remove the threat from the perspective of innocent civilians in the United States.”
And as a columnist and Fox News contributor after leaving the Bush administration, Bolton advocated preemptive military action against Iran and North Korea.
What is the relationship between Bolton and Trump?
Bolton joined the Trump administration as his national security adviser and replaced National Security Advisor HR McMaster in March 2018.
Bolton said he left the post in September 2019 and decided to quit the position 17 months later. He was Trump’s third national security adviser during his first term. The pair’s relationship, already tense after his departure, exploded into the 2020 publication of his previous advisor’s book, The Room Where Daving. It painted a misguided picture of most of the Trump administration and his foreign policy decisions, sparking a series of responsibilities from the Republican president.
Since leaving office, Bolton has become a sharp critic of Trump and his foreign policy and has become a frequent commentator in the media. Bolton refused to voluntarily testify in a 2019 House of Representatives each investigation in connection with allegations that used military aid to pressure Ukraine to politically motivate him, vowing to fight the subpoena in court. Some of Bolton’s books were leaked at the time. Bolton writes that Trump made it clear he didn’t want to release the aid in question until Ukraine agreed to support the investigation.
In an August 15 interview with CNN, Bolton criticized Trump’s summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who achieved nothing at the meeting, but “I don’t think Trump lost, but Putin clearly won,” he said.
On his first day in January, Trump revoked security clearances for dozens of former officials, including Bolton. In the presidential lawsuit, the administration denounced the former national security officer who has published information classified in his book, which Bolton repeatedly denied, claiming that Bolton was fired from his post. Trump also revoked details of Bolton’s security in February.
Contributors: William Cummings, Burt Janssen, USA Today.
Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA Today. You can contact her kapalmer@usatoday.com And with x @Kathrynplmr.
