A little over a year ago, when it was announced President Donald Trump was adding John Bolton as his national security adviser, people flipped.
Bolton is one of the most fervent pro-regime-change bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., and his addition to Trump’s inner circle brought fears that the president’s anti-interventionist inclinations would disappear.
But Tuesday afternoon, Trump announced that Bolton was leaving, with no new wars started, a departure for the former Bush official.
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….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2019
….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 himself is already offering a somewhat conflicting version of events, saying on Twitter that he offered to resign on Monday and the president instead said that they’d talk it over.
I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, "Let's talk about it tomorrow."
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) September 10, 2019
According to reports, Trump would often refer to Bolton as “Mike,” which is not his name.
Bolton was too controversial to be voted on by the Senate to be United Nations Ambassador for President George W. Bush and had to be recess appointed. He has long argued that the Iraq War was both justified and a success. His appointment made insiders think the Trump administration was inching toward war with Iran (and maybe Venezuela, too).
Though this summer saw a series of escalations between the U.S. and Iran, Trump himself nixed airstrikes against the country at the last minute.
Trump will soon appoint the fourth national security adviser of his first term, with Michael Flynn and H.R. McMaster having served and departed.
Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser, pled guilty to lying to the FBI in the Mueller investigation into the 2016 election.