Trump had to fire NSA Bolton eventually, but what took so long for the POTUS and what finally triggered the urge for another twitter firing?
If we were to say that Trump Administration runs on twitter, it won’t be very far away from the truth. As his tweet about calling off the talks with the Taliban was being reported by media, it was superseded by Trump’s announcement of firing US National Security Advisor, John Bolton. But while Trump finally fired NSA Bolton, what’s the truth?
There was an immediate reaction from Bolton though that he had already offered to resign last night but was told to wait till next day. Now, who is telling the truth here is a question one must ponder.
It is to be noted that Trump is known for his irrational firings in the White House. The truth is that Bolton was the third NSA to be fired by Trump in the last 4 years, apart from a bunch of other high-ranking officials. Last two NSAs of Trump administration, Michael Flynn and HR McMaster were fired in a similar manner.
The Bolton Firing
It could be argued that this was yet another haphazard decision by him and that’s why not even his staff was made aware of this decision, getting to know about it from twitter. But one must look at the larger picture here and consider the whole Trump-Bolton history.
Although the truth why he was fired is unclear, Bolton was definitely not Trump’s favorite. The two locked horns on many defense issues ranging from Iran to Russia. Bolton has a much longer history in the White House than Trump. He served under Bush administration and publicly stated that USA should bomb Iran, arguing that they won’t ever enter a nuclear agreement with the US. Iran however, did.
Though USA did pull out of that agreement in 2018 when Bolton became NSA, Trump went out of the way to offer talks with Iran on no pre-conditions.
He was even ready to attack Iran after they shot down US drones but plans changed last minute. Similarly, Bolton was against talks between the USA and North Korea. He didn’t want the Trump administration to proceed with peace talks with Kim and instead follow the Libya or Iraq model.
Trump-Bolton: A volatile relationship
Trump often went against Bolton’s statements and said whatever he wanted to. Well, he went against everyone’s statement and said whatever he wanted to. But Bolton being the NSA, was more hurt by these it seems. He always had a hard stance against the likes of Iran. Russia, North Korea, Taliban and other enemies of the state.
Bolton was against peace talks with the Taliban. That too in the week preceding the 18th anniversary of 9/11. Therefore, one can fathom the breaking off of talks with the Taliban was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Another angle that no one is talking about
There is another angle to this story however, one less talked about because of it sounding like a conspiracy theory by the haters, but there are enough clues pointing at it. There have been talks about Trump’s Russia and Putin connections ever since he took the office.
First, there were allegations of Russian hackers meddling in the US elections. Then allegations surfaced about Trump being financially helped by the Putin regime. Now, a recent controversy has been about Trump ruining the G7 dinner over readmitting Russia to G7. Noticeably, Trump is at loggerheads with USA’s western allies over Russia, China, and Iran issues.
Bolton was a total mismatch for Trump
Not so surprisingly, John Bolton, a hardliner, was against all of these aforementioned nations. Bolton repeatedly snubbed Putin and was bidding to pivot Eastern Europe away from Russia. It could be argued that the Russian administration didn’t like him much. One must even wonder what a man like John Bolton was doing in Trump’s circle. He was an old nationalist hawk with reservations against Russia, Iran, and others, and also advocated the bombing of North Korea. Bolton was a total mismatch for Trump.
That being said, Bolton did dilute his anger to some extent after becoming the NSA, understanding how it works to be in good books of Trump and was there for some time even. But it was known that this was never going to work out to put two such strong-headed men in one room.
So, why is Bolton not the NSA anymore?
All being said, it really doesn’t matter if Bolton was ready to resign himself or was just fired by Trump. It’s not like Trump was ever interested in an old man dictating him how to run things. Moreover, a report claims that Trump fired Bolton over a difference in opinion regarding Iran. The hardliner Bolton was not ready for easing of sanctions against Iran that Trump undertook.
Though this doesn’t rule out the possibility that the truth is that Trump fired Bolton on a whim. In the past, he has made many similar decisions and one cannot really expect much leverage from him when it comes to politics, at least based on the previous track records.
