Ousted National Security Adviser John Bolton hit out at President Donald Trump during a private lunch saying future talks between the president and North Korea and Iran are ‘doomed to fail’. Bolton also said the Camp David meeting with Taliban leaders that fell through earlier this month was ‘disrespectful’ to victims of 9/11 and their families.
John Bolton bashed any future talks between Donald Trump and North Korea and Iran, claiming they are ‘doomed to failure.’
Two attendees at a private lunch on Wednesday with Bolton, who was fired last week as Trump’s third national security adviser, told Politico of Bolton’s harsh words against the president.
They relayed that the ex-national security adviser also said the president’s decision to invite leaders of the Taliban to Camp David the weekend before the anniversary of 9/11 sent a ‘terrible signal’ and was ‘disrespectful’ to the victims of the terrorist attack because the jihadist group harbored al-Qaeda.
‘He ripped Trump, without using his name, several times,’ one attendee said.
The slights at the president come just over a week after Trump announced on Twitter he was parting with Bolton over several disagreements over how to handle national security and foreign policy issues.
Bolton, who was speaking to guests invited to lunch by the think tank Gatestone, said the president’s failure to respond to an Iranian attack on an American drone earlier this summer helped set the stage for more aggression from the Middle Eastern nation in recent months.
He also said the U.S. should have retaliated, and claimed if we had, Iran may not have targeted Saudi Arabian oil fields over the weekend.
The ex-Trump official, who was previously a chairman of Gatestone, said the Iranian attacks that wiped out half of Saudi Arabia’s oil supply – making up 5 percent of the world supply – was ‘an act of war.’
The president tweeted Sunday that the U.S. is ‘locked and loaded,’ and prepared to respond to the attack on the world’s largest oil refinery.
Bolton made his derogatory comments while speaking to around 60 Gatestone donors at an exclusive event in Manhattan, and attendees included lawyer Alan Dershowitz, former attorney general Michael Mukasey, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, former Fox News host John Stossel and former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey.
The policy differences between Trump and Bolton were no secret, and Trump said the final straw happened when Bolton wanted to apply to ‘Libya model’ to the U.S. handling of North Korea.
Trump promised to name Bolton’s successor this week, and on the same day Bolton made the comments chiding the president, he announced that hostage negotiator Robert O’Brien would become the fourth national security adviser of his presidency.
While speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Los Angeles, California, Trump said he has ‘good chemistry,’ – indicating that he feels their working relationship may be more compatible than with Bolton.
Since Bolton’s ouster, however, he has already been in talks with literary agents to write and publish a memoir of his time working under Trump. If the book were to come to fruition and adopt a ‘tell-all’ perspective, it could earn him millions.
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