Bolton Is Trump’s Latest Shakeup Artist
John Bolton didn’t take long to start making his mark on the Trump Administration. Bolton, known for his aggressive rhetoric, hawkish (some might say chicken-hawkish) philosophies and his “kiss up, kick down” managerial style has been on the job as National Security Adviser for a week. There have already been high level shakeups with more rumored to be on the way. Bolton served as Ambassador to the UN under George W. Bush and then moved on to become a feverish, Anti-Obama, Fox News correspondent. Trump hired Bolton to head the National Security Council in a move that has many concerned that we are heading towards armed conflict with Iran, North Korea or both.
John Bolton has taken a paring knife to President Trump’s national security team in his first week on the job advising the president — and he’s not finished yet.
Since Bolton took office on Monday as Trump’s national security adviser, four senior aides have stepped down or resigned under pressure. Sources say more changes are expected in the coming weeks as Bolton forms his own team.
The slate of departures is the second major reshuffle of the National Security Council (NSC) in just 15 months, fueling the historic pace of turnover on Trump’s White House staff.
Current and former administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say most of the big changes on the NSC staff under Bolton have already been announced and mid-level aides are expected to be the next to go.
They say the moves are a sign Trump has emboldened the hawkish Bolton to reshape the NSC.
Staff are on edge over the management style of Bolton, whom a former State Department official once described during testimony as a “kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy.”
They fear he could load up the council with hard-liners and undermine its role as an honest broker in the interagency process used to make national security decisions.
The turnover comes at a pivotal point for Trump on the world stage.
