John Bolton Is Gone. The Threat of War Is Not.
John Bolton has exited the Trump White House. But his bellicose, bloodthirsty worldview is still the basic operating system of the Trump administration — and still threatens to lead us into war.
John Bolton speaks on the phone outside the West Wing of the White House on September 10, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Tom Brenner / Getty Images)
John Bolton tried his best.
The national security advisor entered the Trump administration as a predictable warmonger with an unslakable thirst for power. He streamlined the national security apparatus to maximize his access to the president. At least at first, he played the role of loyal adjutant to Trump. As in his days as an arms control official in the George W. Bush administration, Bolton quietly planted IEDs on the inside rather than throw bombs from the outside.
But ultimately, like the scorpion that stings the frog halfway across the river, Bolton couldn’t betray his own nature. In his eagerness to start wars with Venezuela, North Korea, and Iran, Bolton spoke out of turn, publicly clashed with his boss, and probably leaked information to the press. By August his position had become untenable, and he suffered the fate of so many Trump collaborators: expulsion by tweet.
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