Donald Trump Fires John Bolton, Says He ‘Disagreed Strongly’ With His Suggestions
A Tuesday morning announcement from President Donald Trump sent shock waves through Washington D.C. as the president revealed that he asked for the resignation of National Security Adviser John Bolton.
According to The Hill, Trump posted a late-morning tweet in which he announced the surprise move, citing a disagreement he had with Bolton on a number of unspecified issues.
“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,” Trump wrote.
Bolton’s new employment status was revealed just hours before he was set to meet at the White House on Tuesday afternoon with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The news also came on the heels of a highly controversial meeting with Taliban leaders that was set to take place at Camp David — a meeting that would have reportedly involved peace talks, including a potential agreement, which would provide the opportunity for the Trump administration to pull troops from Afghanistan.
That meeting, which was reportedly strongly opposed by Bolton, was canceled by the president over the weekend almost as quickly as it was announced. As reported by The Inquisitr, Trump cited a suicide bombing in Kabul that cost at least one American life as the reason for cancelling the surprise meeting.
The president also blasted a number of media networks for pushing “fake news” that Vice President Mike Pence and Bolton both opposed the Taliban meeting at Camp David, according to The Hill.
“A lot of Fake News is being reported that I overruled the VP and various advisers on a potential Camp David meeting with the Taliban,” Trump tweeted on Monday, before claiming the stories were false.
The potential meet between Taliban leaders and White House officials also drew criticism from a number of Republican politicians, including Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who said the meeting would be “unacceptable.” The meeting would have been held just days before the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
.@AmbJohnBolton said he offered to resign last night but Trump wanted to discuss on Tuesday. Then: Trump Tweets 'His Services Are No Longer Needed At The White House." https://t.co/uxr6yXFXMd via @SaraCarterDC
— Sara A. Carter (@SaraCarterDC) September 10, 2019
Top Democrats, such as Sen. Bob Menendez, also blasted Trump’s planned meeting, calling such a move “outrageous” and implied that it would be wrong to invite a terrorist organization onto U.S. soil for any sort of talks.
Bolton responded to Trump’s announcement on Tuesday in a tweet, saying that he’d offered the president his resignation on Monday night but claimed Trump said the two would “talk about it” on Tuesday.
President Trump appointed Bolton in March 2018 to replace H.R. McMaster. Bolton was Trump’s third national security adviser.
