Trump says he fired US National Security Adviser John Bolton

World Today

The U.S. National Security Adviser, John Bolton, is out of a job. President Donald Trump said he fired him. But Bolton said he resigned.

CGTN’s Nathan King has more on the drama unfolding at the White House.

He was President Trump’s third U.S. national security adviser and a controversial choice from the start. From urging government changes in Iran and Venezuela to scuttling a deal with the DPRK, John Bolton’s foreign policy views always seemed to be at odds with Trump.

Now he’s gone, fired abruptly by Tweet.

Trump in part wrote: “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.”

Bolton tweeted back challenging Trump saying he had tendered his resignation first.

Known in Tehran as “The Mustache” and dubbed a warmonger by Pyongyang, Bolton was a crusader for an America first foreign policy—tearing up arms agreements and diplomatic norms the hallmarks of his career.

But differences over negotiations with the Taliban and Bolton’s opposition to a rapprochement with Russia put him at odds with a President who follows his instincts on foreign policy and as Trump loyalists said keeps his friends close but his enemies closer.

Following Bolton’s departure, the U.S. secretary of state pointedly reiterated Trump’s desire to meet with Iranian leaders perhaps at the U.N. later this month.

“The President has made it very clear,” said Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State. “He’s prepared to meet with no preconditions.”

Iranian officials said Bolton’s departure is proof that the maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and military threats wasn’t working. The same could be said of many of the current U.S. foreign policies. The question is, does a White House without Bolton mean a change of direction?


Daily Beast’s Eleanor Clift on Trump’s firing of NSA Bolton

For insight on the firing of Trump’s third national security adviser, CGTN’s Mike Walter spoke with Eleanor Clift, a policy analyst for the Daily Beast.