President Donald Trump asked President Xi Jinping of China for domestic political help to boost his electoral prospects in the midst of the two leaders’ trade war last summer, according to the bombshell account of former national security adviser John Bolton in his forthcoming memoir.
For the left, the consummate conservative has revealed himself to be an utter poltroon: weary of a would-be dictator president, but unwilling to officially cross him. For some on the right, he’s a potential traitor in their midst. Bolton “is THE witness for the prosecution.” a former senior administration official told me earlier this impeachment autumn.
Mr. Bolton’s legacy is not of destruction overseas, but dysfunction in Washington. To pursue his own policy agenda and serve an erratic president, in just 17 months Mr. Bolton effectively destroyed the National Security Council system, the intricate structure that governed American foreign policy since the end of World War II. Mr. Bolton’s most lasting legacy will be dismantling the structure that has kept American foreign policy from collapsing into chaos, and finally unshackling an irregular commander-in-chief.
In rolling out the administration’s new “National Cyber Strategy,” National Security Advisor John Bolton said that Trump had removed restrictions on the use of offensive cyber-operations and replaced them with a more permissive legal regime that gives the Defense Department and other agencies greater authority to penetrate foreign networks to deter hacks on U.S. systems.
Iran hawks seem to be in pretty good spirits these days, with John Bolton having taken over as national-security adviser and Mike Pompeo as secretary of state. They are thrilled with the promotion of two high-ranking officials who want to tear up the nuclear deal, actively promote regime change in Tehran, and vigorously confront Iran throughout the region, just like many of them have been advocating for years—what’s not to like?
Hawks are closing in on the White House. John Bolton, arguably the most abrasive American diplomat of the twenty-first century, will soon assume the top foreign-policy job at the National Security Council.
Also Read: What stands between John Bolton and blowing up the world?
