President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser torched his handling of the Iran conflict during a Thursday appearance on CNN.
John Bolton said the 79-year-old president does not seem to have a strategy for the war, which is now dragging into its eighth week.
The escalating war has already rattled global markets, with tensions in the Strait of Hormuz fueling the largest global oil disruption in history and pushing gas prices to a nationwide average of $4.17 in March.
The White House has repeatedly claimed to be in complete control and dismissed criticism of the president’s erratic messaging on Iran. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, brushed off reports that Iran attacked and seized two vessels near the strait—raising questions about the fragile ceasefire Trump has touted.
“The American media… is sort of blowing this out of proportion to discredit the president’s facts,” she said, insisting U.S. forces had already “completely obliterated Iran’s conventional navy.”
But that message clashed sharply with Trump’s own rhetoric. Last Sunday, the president warned on Truth Social: “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”
Bolton, 77, trashed the administration’s messaging.
“Her comment was utterly incoherent. Not that I expect anything different,” he said, arguing that the administration’s attempt to square a ceasefire with ongoing military threats makes little strategic sense. “If you’re going to have a ceasefire… that is not the kind of conduct we expect from the adversary.”
He went further, calling the ceasefire itself fundamentally flawed—especially as Trump has kept pressure on Iran through a naval blockade and orders to strike any vessels suspected of laying mines in the strait.
In Bolton’s view, the temporary truce may have handed Tehran a lifeline. After weeks of sustained airstrikes by both the U.S. and Israel, he argued, the pause gives Iran “weeks of relief” while disruptions to global shipping continue to hammer the U.S.
Taken together, Bolton said, the administration’s moves paint a picture of a president without a clear plan.
“I‘m afraid that‘s also a pretty good description at the moment of the direction of U.S. policy,” he said. “I think the president’s lost. I don’t think he knows what to do next.”
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Bolton also pointed to the chaos unraveling inside the Pentagon, where the Navy secretary was abruptly fired this week amid reports of internal feuding.
Hung Cao, 54, was installed to replace Epstein-linked official John Phelan as Navy secretary, deepening concerns about instability at a moment of global crisis.
Bolton warned the infighting has been “brewing” since the start of the administration and is now spilling into public view, dragging focus away from wartime strategy.
Instead, officials are increasingly consumed by “personal confrontations,” he said—a dynamic that risks having a “tremendous negative effect on morale all across the building.”
That dysfunction is colliding with mounting economic fallout at home. Inflation ticked up to 3 percent in March, while jet fuel costs have doubled amid the prolonged conflict.
And despite the spiraling costs and no clear end in sight, Trump has signaled little urgency to wrap things up.
He has insisted there is “no time pressure” on negotiations with Tehran and “no time frame” for ending the war—remarks that come even as Iranian officials warn the U.S. blockade remains a “main obstacle” to any serious peace talks, according to NBC.
