Donald Trump’s former national security adviser thinks he’s easy to manipulate, and that Iran is playing him accordingly.
Hawkish John Bolton, 77, spoke on CNN’s The Lead on Monday, where he discussed the ongoing peace talks with Iran, and said that he thinks Trump has shown he’s too “desperate” to make a deal.
“I don’t think the president understands the fanaticism of what’s left of the regime and the people who are in power,” Bolton said. “He is somebody who has spent his whole life making deals with people. He thinks everybody wants to make a deal on just about anything.
“That’s not what these people are into. And they can see that Trump is so palpably desperate to have a deal that he can declare to be a victory and that lowers prices of gasoline and they’re playing him on that. They’re stretching him out. They’re buying time. All of that works in their advantage.”
Bolton has long been a proponent of hawkish “peace through strength” and disagreed with Trump on several issues during Trump’s first administration, ultimately leading to his resignation as national security adviser in 2019.
In a tweet at the time, Trump said, “I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. 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.”
Since then, Bolton has become one of the most prominent Republican TV critics of the president, and on Monday night’s segment did not hold back.
On Sunday, amid his usual flurry of Truth Social posts consisting of bizarre memes and images of himself, Trump talked about the deal he claims to be negotiating with Iran.
“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump said. “Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet.”
Obama’s administration spearheaded the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran in 2015, which greatly limited its nuclear program, and in return saw Iran enjoy sanctions breaks. The deal expired last year.
“Look, that’s all salesmanship by Trump. He doesn’t offer any idea of what the substance is,” said Bolton, who was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under George W. Bush.
“You can listen to this day after day. It doesn’t say anything. The only way to establish deterrence again against Iran trying to close the Strait of Hormuz is to take it away from them militarily, to open up naval traffic on the Arabian side of the Gulf, allow Arab oil out into international markets while keeping the blockade against Iranian oil.
“That increases, at least continues, the squeeze on Iran financially, but by allowing oil to flow from the Arab states, it reduces the pressure on international markets. Iran has to learn the lesson it cannot get its way in the Gulf by military force. It’s reasonable to ask, why didn’t the administration think of this at the beginning of the war?
“I don’t know the answer to that question, but the answer now is not to have a diplomatic deal that can be reversed like by Iran, but like turning a light switch on and off.”
Bolton may have got his wish, as talks suffered a blow later that night, when the U.S. said it had carried out “defensive” strikes on several targets in the south of Iran.
U.S. Centcom said it had attacked boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply flows, but which has been placed in a stranglehold by Iran.
Centcom “continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Navy Captain Tim Hawkins said.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
