After more than two years into his administration, President Donald Trump may be beginning to realize his National Security Advisor John Bolton could be anathema to his stated ‘America First’ foreign policy.
Although the president recently told reporters that he is able to keep Bolton’s worst instincts in check, a recent op-ed in the Washington Post suggests Trump was unhappy with Bolton leading him “into a war” after the failed Venezuela coup.
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1126571130091900929
- thehill
That certainly would not be new for the national security advisor, a political appointee under Ronald Reagan and both Bush administrations and a career war hawk.
Bolton has a passion for regime change, calling for the removal of leaders in Iran, Venezuela, Syria and North Korea; no country is too far-flung for American-approved leadership.
He’s also perhaps never seen an arms control agreement that he didn’t want to destroy. Bolton had a hand in wrecking the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) and Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) agreements with Russia, he helped to scrap the Agreed Framework with North Korea in the 1990s, and encouraged President Trump to abrogate the nuclear pact with Iran.
It may be easier to count the number of American wars Bolton hasn’t supported, which appears to be a big, fat zero.
During the 2016 race, candidate Trump ran on an ‘America First’ foreign policy and was often critical of the US role as “policeman of the world,” which makes a paradox out of his decision to put Bolton in such a high position. And judging from the new wave of sabre-rattling, hawks like Bolton are calling the shots, and the president has taken a backseat in his own administration.
https://twitter.com/RalphNader/status/1126242542775877632
- RalphNader
https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1126327004712796161
- mtracey
https://twitter.com/jmhamiltonblog/status/1126449699102384128
- jmhamiltonblog
Original: https://www.rt.com/usa/458917-can-america-first-survive-bolton/