New York: US President Donald Trump has fired his hawkish national security adviser John Bolton, saying he disagreed with too many of his policy suggestions to make the relationship work.
Bolton, a former senior official in the George W. Bush administration, was sceptical about Trump's approach to diplomacy with North Korea, Iran and Afghanistan.
He also reportedly opposed the President's plan to hold peace talks with the Taliban close to the 18th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
US President Donald Trump has fired his national security adviser John bolton, pictured. Credit:AP
"I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House," Trump announced on Twitter on Tuesday morning local time.
"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."
Bolton responded on Twitter: "I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, 'Let's talk about it tomorrow'."
Trump is now looking for his fourth national security adviser in three years following the previous departures of Mike Flynn and H.R. McMaster.
Trump regularly goaded Bolton about his hawkish instincts, saying he has "never seen a war he doesn’t like" and jokingly asking him if he wanted to invade Ireland.
Trump resented the implication that Bolton was exerting influence on him behind the scenes and would lead him into a military conflict.
Bolton was a leading advocate of the Iraq War, which Trump later said was a colossal foreign policy mistake.
Many observers expressed suprise when Trump appointed Bolton to the role in April 2018 given their policy differences .
"It is a damn strange pick," Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University said at the time.
Trump, who places great importance on his chemistry with advisers, never warmed to Bolton personally.
Trump's initial decision not to appoint Bolton to a senior post was reportedly driven, in part, by his dislike of Bolton's distinctive white mustache.
Bolton clashed with other members of Trump's administration during his tenure, and was said to not longer be on speaking terms with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Bolton was particularly sceptical that Trump's diplomatic embrace of North Korean leader Kim Jon-Un would lead the country to give up its nuclear weapons program.
Just weeks before his appointment, Bolton argued that thee US has the legal authority to launch a preemptive strike on North Korea and that it "should not wait until the very last minute" to act.
Source: Read Full Article