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John Bolton, former national security adviser to Donald Trump, applauded the president's decision to strike Iran, explaining to CNN's Kasie Hunt why he believes it was "clearly the right thing to do."

The US president no longer cares about the near-term political consequences of his actions, says the former senior official in an interview in Washington. Few people know the inside of U.S. Republican administrations as well as John Bolton, who has worked on foreign policy in every one of them since the days of Ronald Reagan. Under George W. Bush, he served as ambassador to the UN, and in Donald Trump’s first term, he served as National Security Adviser for 18 months—“a record for that administration,” he recalls with a laugh. The relationship didn’t end well: Bolton, like many other senior...

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton said Tuesday on CNN’s “New Central” that no world leader should “equate” the opinions of the American people with those of President Donald Trump. Bolton said, “I think Trump is ripping through decades of American effort to build up good faith, trust, reliance, counting on the United States in times of crisis. And the economic cost of the tariffs are going to be bad.” He added, “I think you saw a little bit of that in the meeting today. The leader who was backing down in that meeting was Trump. He’d already made all...

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton said Monday on MSNBC’s “Ana Cabrera Reports” that if President Donald Trump attempted to take control of Greenland with military force, it “would provoke an impeachment crisis almost immediately.” On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump downplayed the likelihood but did not completely rule it out. He said, “I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there, you need that. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people which will take care of and will cherish them and all of that, but...

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton said Wednesday on CNN’s “The Source” that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should “resign for for his own safety’s sake.” Co-host Pamela Brown said, “I want to ask you, before we go about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, you know that there are now at least two instances of him using the commercial app Signal to discuss sensitive military info. Trump tells The Atlantic that he believes Hegseth will get it together. Do you believe Hegseth should still be on the job? Bolton said, “No. I think he should resign for for his own safety’s sake...

John Bolton says that a ceasefire isn't in Ukraine's best interest

Shortly after the diplomatic row, Bolton appeared on MSNBC, telling host Nicole Wallace he thinks Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz should resign from their roles in the Trump White House. Bolton—an extreme foreign policy hawk and ardent supporter of U.S. military intervention in a concerning number of other countries—dubiously argued that both men’s credibility could suffer if they remain associated with Trump.

Former national security adviser John Bolton said President Trump’s mind is “full of mush” as he navigates international affairs and ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Bolton joined CNN’s “The Source” Monday evening, just hours after the U.S. voted against a UN resolution that would have condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. “There are a lot of strange votes of the United Nations that I participated in,” he told host Kaitlan Collins. “It wasn’t so much the vote itself, as the fact we are aligned with what has always been NATO’s principal threat.” “We have sided now, in this vote, with...

Former national security adviser John Bolton called President Trump’s positioning on ending the war in Ukraine “pretty close to surrender” in an interview released Thursday. “I think Trump’s remarks and that of [Secretary of Defense] Pete Hegseth and others come pretty close to surrender,” he told Politico. “It’s a position that’s similar to what [Vice President] JD Vance announced during the campaign about Ukraine: There’d be a ceasefire in place, a militarized zone would be created, negotiations would begin, Ukraine would agree not to join NATO.” Trump and Hegseth made waves last week with comments that broke starkly with U.S....

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton said Wednesday on CNN’s “The Source” that President Donald Trump “has effectively surrendered” to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Host Kaitlan Collins said, “You’ve previously said that that you believe Putin sees Trump as what you described as an easy mark. You were there for their first meeting in Helsinki. What are your expectations for this one?” Bolton said, “Well, I don’t have any expectations anymore. I think we know exactly what’s gonna happen. President Trump has effectively surrendered to Putin before the negotiations have even begun. The positions that Defense Secretary Hegseth announced in...

President Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton said during an interview that some of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts could hurt “long-term American interests,” particularly on the foreign policy front. “A well-run foreign aid program, and I’m not saying that’s what exists now, but a well-run foreign aid program is trying to help our friends, persuade others to become friends. How you spend it in the country is open to debate. But nobody talks about, are we spending enough in the right countries to advance American interests? That’s what you need,” Bolton said during a Friday...

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton claimed Friday on CNN’s “Newsroom” that President Donald Trump talking about taking back the Panama Canal and not ruling out using military force “makes us look ridiculous.” Host Jim Acosta said, “I just wanted to get your take on what Trump said during his inaugural speech earlier this week that the U.S. should take back the Panama Canal. Do you take that seriously? And what does that mean, take back the panama canal? Does he mean some sort of military operation or pressuring the Panamanians to hand it back over to the U.S.?” Bolton...

John Bolton, national security adviser in Donald Trump's first administration and now a harsh critic of the president-elect, told Newsmax on Friday he will be proven right that Trump is just an aberration in American politics.Bolton also told "Finnerty" he wouldn't take back recent remarks that if Ronald Reagan were alive today, he would be "stunned" that the Republican Party had anything to do with Trump, even after the president-elect defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the popular vote and Electoral College and ushered in GOP control of Congress."We'll see on Monday what the inaugural address looks like," Bolton, the...

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton compared Kash Patel, President-elect Trump’s nomination for head of FBI, to one of the USSR’s most feared secret police chiefs, Lavrentiy Beria. “Trump has nominated Kash Patel to be his Lavrenty Beria,” Bolton said during an appearance on NBC News’ “Meet The Press” on Sunday. “Fortunately, the FBI is not the NKVD. The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0.” NKVD refers to the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union, which was in place from 1934 to 1946.

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton claimed Tuesday on CNN’s “Newsroom” that President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the intelligence community former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s (D-HI) views were “on a different planet.” Host Jim Acosta said, “We’ve seen Matt Gaetz withdraw his nomination for attorney general. Should Tulsi Gabbard do the same for Director of National Intelligence?” Bolton said, “Well look, she said many things publicly that I think disqualify her. These are not just because her views are extreme. They are on a different planet. they are the views of somebody who doesn’t understand anything about American interests. And...

Former national security adviser John Bolton said Thursday that former President Trump has trouble differentiating between fact and fiction. “Look, Trump can’t tell the difference between what’s true and what’s false,” Bolton said on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins.” “It’s not that he lies a lot, because to lie, you have to do it consciously. He just can’t tell the difference.”