Former national security adviser John Bolton said President Donald Trump is likely “back in a panic mode” on Friday after Iran shot down two U.S. military fighter jets less than 48 hours after he assured the American people that the U.S. had air supremacy over the region.
Bolton joined CNN’s “The Source” and was asked by host Kaitlan Collins if the incidents undermine White House’s credibility, as Trump claimed Tuesday in his national address that Iran has “no anti-aircraft equipment” and that their radar capabilities were “100% annihilated.”
“Sure, it absolutely degrades White House credibility,” Bolton said Friday. “And that’s a self-inflicted wound by the White House, not by the Iranians. If you overstate what you’ve accomplished and evidence comes that shows that you’ve overstated, you look foolish.”
Trump said during his Tuesday address that the U.S. is “unstoppable as a military force” and has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.” He added that “the hard part is done,” and that the U.S. has Iran “under intense satellite surveillance and control.”
On Friday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard shot down an F-15 fighter jet, forcing the two-person crew to eject. One pilot was rescued, but the other is now officially missing in Iran. The country has also shot down an A-10 Warthog, whose pilot was safely rescued.
Bolton was even more blunt when asked if Trump’s silence on the matter stood out to him.
“Uh, no,” he told Collins. “It sounds to me like he’s probably back in a panic mode, wishing he could find a way to declare victory and get out of this war, regardless of whether or not he opens the Strait of Hormuz before he does it. I think that’s a mistake, too.”
Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes, after the U.S. launched its war — which has cost at least 13 U.S. military service members and more than 1,900 Iranians their lives and now threatens to trigger a global energy crisis.
“I think if there had been an effective decision-making process before the war started and these concerns were raised and they bothered the president, he had the option then not to initiate the attack,” Bolton said Friday. “But apparently he was satisfied.”
He continued, “Now if things are upsetting him that he either didn’t think about or didn’t pay attention to in the run-up to the war, that’s a problem for him. And therefore it’s a problem for the country. But it was easily avoided and should have been avoided.”
On Saturday, shared a threatening reminder about the April 6 deadline he had set for Iran to open the strait, writing on his Truth Social platform that they were given 10 days to do so — and have “48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”