September 10, 2019 President Trump fired National Security Advisor, John Bolton on Tuesday over fundamental foreign policy disagreements. Bolton is the third national security advisor to leave the Trump administration.
Trump announced the decision via Twitter:
“I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore 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 responded on Twitter, asserting that he offered to resign Monday night , but Trump said “let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
The move comes on the heels of President Trump’s announcement he had invited members of the Taliban to Camp David for a secret meeting on Sunday to finalize peace talks —but canceled it before it took place.
On Monday, Trump told reporters he considered the peace negotiations to be “dead.”
A Taliban spokesperson told a BBC correspondent on Monday that Trump’s dramatic cancellation was a surprise to the group, suggesting his erratic diplomacy is damaging his credibility.
Trump faced backlash from leaders on both sides of the aisle after announcing the plan to meet with Taliban members at Camp David —just days before the eighteenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on American soil.
John R. Bolton
During John Bolton’s tenure as national security adviser, there were numerous deep disagreements with President Trump on how to handle major foreign policy challenges with several countries including North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Afghanistan.
The New York Times reported on Sunday the idea of a meeting with members of the Taliban at Camp David came at the end of a potential peace agreement negotiated by the U.S. special representative to Afghanistan last week. When the Camp David meeting was floated during a Situation Room meeting with the president on September 1, the idea was vehemently opposed by National Security Adviser John Bolton, sources say.
In June, Bolton criticized North Korean missile tests, saying North Korea did not keep its commitments on nuclear and missile testing. Just hours later, President Trump contradicted Bolton, saying Kim Jong Un has “kept his word.”
During an interview with Meet the Press in May, President Trump told Chuck Todd he has doves and hawks in his cabinet because he wants to hear “both sides.” Trump described John Bolton as absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him he’d take on the whole world at one time, okay?” Trump said.
John Bolton, the former ambassador to the United Nations in the Bush administration is indeed considered one of the most radically hawkish voices in American foreign policy.
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