National Security Adviser John Bolton is no longer a part of the Trump administration. One thing that seems to be unclear is if Bolton resigned or was fired. After Trump’s tweet, the differences between Bolton and Trump’s story recently came to light.
What We Know:
- Although it can be agreed that Bolton is no longer with the Trump administration, we do have different stories on how that occurred.
- Trump’s account of the instance was shared over Twitter.
….I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2019
- Bolton’s response seems to imply that there’s a contradiction to Trump’s account.
I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, "Let's talk about it tomorrow."
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) September 10, 2019
- In addition to the Twitter response to Trump, Bolton wants to make it clear that he chose to leave, not that he was encouraged to. Bolton texted Fox News Anchor Brian Kilmeade to clarify. “Let’s be clear — I resigned.“
- CBS News obtained and released Bolton’s short resignation letter. “I hereby resign, effective immediately, as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Thank you for having afforded me this opportunity to serve our country.”
- Interestingly, there are many statements against Bolton and his work under Trump. It was suspected that “Bolton or those close to Bolton leaked a story about Trump questioning whether nuclear weapons could be used to abate hurricanes.”
- Another stated that Bolton “got too big for his britches” and that he “doesn’t play well in the sandbox,” an attitude that infuriated many in the White House including the president.
- Besides the personal accusations, it seemed that there were a lot of points where Bolton fundamentally disagreed with the Trump administration. White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley stated that Bolton’s “priorities and policies just don’t line up with the president’s”.
- It was also explained that under Bolton there was a large separation between the wants of the White House and National Security Council. They were described as becoming functionally separate entities. Bolton had his priorities. He didn’t ask the president “What are your priorities?” They’re Bolton’s priorities. Bolton was also accused of not attending meetings and following his own initiatives.
- There is another source that conflicts with the ones above. “The source defended Bolton’s service in the Trump administration, asserting that in the last 17 months — the duration of his tenure — there have been “no bad deals,” telling Brennan that Bolton weighed in significantly on Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Russia, China, Syria and Turkey.”
- With the everchanging staff of the Trump Administration, we should keep in mind the question of why this keeps occurring. Bolton is the fourth national security adviser to have left the administration under Trump.
Looking at many of the statements, one can think that Bolton might not have fit well in the Trump Administration since he had opposing views. Although not in all cases, it can be extremely beneficial to surround oneself with those with opposing views; it can add some more insight into different perspectives and circumstances that others’ experience.
