President Trump fired John Bolton on Tuesday after fundamental disagreements on foreign policy issues regarding Iran, North Korea, and Afghanistan.
Trump made his announcement on 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.
These fundamental disagreements likely centered around Trump’s more positive approach to countries like Afghanistan, Iran, and North Korea. Bolton, a consummate hawk, always found ways to saber rattle and escalate tensions with these countries. Even in our own hemisphere, Bolton was trying to find ways to create conflict with Venezuela.
For many neoconservative pundits, Bolton was supposed to be a check on Trump’s otherwise restrained foreign policy vision. However, Trump has complained privately about Bolton’s hawkish actions and has tried to assert his policies of diplomatic engagement when the national security advisor pushed for more threats and less discussion.
Now, it seems that these tensions have run their course and the President is making his America First agenda felt by letting Bolton go.
From here, Trump can pursue his non-interventionist policies and actually focus on national defense.
