Who is John Bolton?published at 14:53 British Summer Time
14:53 BST
Image source, Getty Images
John Bolton served as the National Security Adviser during Trump’s first presidency.
He was the third person to assume that role in that term – a role that was characterised by a string of resignations, public fallout with the president, and firings.
Before joining the Trump administration, he was briefly the US ambassador to the UN from 2005 to 2006 during the George W Bush administration. He had previously served as an assistant attorney general during the Ronald Reagan administration in the 1980s.
He also helped build the case that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, which turned out to be wrong.
Bolton’s relationship with Trump soured after policy differences began to emerge and the president announced he had fired him in a September 2019 social media post.
“I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House,” he wrote. “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.”
Bolton disputed this fact saying he had voluntary offered to resign.
Bolton, a Republican, has in recent years become a vocal critic of Trump and said he didn’t vote for his former boss in the 2020 election.
Earlier this year, Bolton’s national security clearance was revoked by the Trump administration. His security detail, which he was assigned after assassination threats from Iran, was also pulled.