Todd Bishop
Since mid-July, Bolton, the US national security adviser, was sent to Ulaanbaatar during the special gold meeting. News about the resignation of US White House national security adviser John Bolton is prevalent in the US policy circle. Looking at the series of international political events such as the Osaka G20 (IP20) and the recent “Special Gold Club” and “Special Club”, the national security consultant seems to be marginalized.
This is also understandable. In the eyes of the people in the White House, Bolton, who usually shows the hawkish character, seems to have finally been driven out because of his vulture qualities.
But the various media have therefore shouted that “Bolton should resign” is also taken for granted: the old man of the Cold War, who has been isolated from the political arena after the George W. Bush administration, is regaining authority itself. A big desire. Today, Bolton, who has repaid his wish, played the role of a hawkish leader in the government of Donald Trump, his intentional flattery against Trump during his predecessor, and the sensitive political sense that followed. It makes the outside world quite embarrassed.
In fact, Bolton may still be relatively simple in the second surge of Trump’s aides. Many people have more ideas, and this is more prominent than the current Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. For Pompeo, it seems that this important position is not the end. He also wants to take the opportunity to participate in the Senate and become a Washington interest group, thus winning the chance to run for the presidency .
After Pompeo and Bolton were in power, their political spectrum is still similar to Trump’s interest, but the White House’s political landscape is very different from that of 2016. When Trump took office, his defense chief James Mattis, national security adviser Michael Flynn and many others were mostly from the military and had the ambition to seek to play their hands under the Trump regime.
But after the changes in the White House personnel, the latter group of Trump’s soaring members were very different. They approached the White House with political ideas and tried to capture their own political goals. At this point, there are still hawks around Trump, but this time hovering over the White House is not a national bird white-headed sea eagle representing the traditional American characteristics, but a greedy, scavenged vulture.
How to mix in with Trump
For many people who remember the 2016 US presidential election, the “General Cabinet” established by Trump when he took office was once very eye-catching. On the list, there were two generals and one lieutenant general, former defense chief Matisse, former homeland security minister John Kelly (later transferred to the White House chief of staff) and national security adviser Flynn, who later took over from Flynn. Herbert McMaster is also a lieutenant.
However, by 2018, with the departure of Matisse, Trump had no generals around him. This is undoubtedly a loss of some martial arts spirit for the Trump authorities who have never forgotten to scream “to make the United States great again” and “to continue to be great.” But this is also helpless. In addition to the incidents of Trump’s first-stage staff, except for the events of “communicating Russia” and “personal scandals”, more people left the White House because of political disappointment.
When the government’s chaos has become a daily landscape of American political life, facing the White House’s personnel and Trump’s unconventional ways of dealing with personnel changes (such as using social networks to issue orders), the Republic’s dignitaries are mostly When it feels numb, this makes the old oils of the political circles in Washington have the opportunity to try and mix them.
As Trump’s first aides left, and many of the recommended officials refused to cooperate with them, some politically sensible politicians sneaked in.
According to the data, Bolton, who replaced former national security adviser McMaster, and succeeded Secretary of State Pompeo in 2018 were all on the same issue with Trump. It is clear that these people have made Trump more enjoyable than the professional military aides who had been able to constrain Trump. In addition, after Bolton took office in March and April 2018, he also encouraged the Trump authorities to take military action against Syria at that time. This decision was a far cry from the pragmatism and cautiousness of the generals.
Do this after the White House has made its mark
As far as the current situation is concerned, Bolton and Pompeo can be regarded as representatives of politicians who are interested in approaching Trump. Of course, the fate of the two may be different.
Trump found that the idea of his national security team was inconsistent with his preferences, and changes were inevitable. Pompeo is likely to survive, and Bolton is hard to stay. Trump finally knew that Bolton wanted war more than him. On the North Korean issue, he had to let Bolton stand by; on the Iranian issue, he also overturned Bolton’s decision. It seems that a vulture has been seen in Washington.
But in general, Bolton’s process of gaining Trump’s trust is worth mentioning. The Bush administration’s old bureaucrats first met the criteria of Trump’s selection of cabinets: “whites, heights of 6 feet (183 cm) or more, well-proportioned, square face, sharp jaws, head beard trim It is very clean.” In addition, Trump has always asked his officials to “wear a suit that fits well.” Bolton, who has maintained a similar image for a long time, has become a favorite of Trump. Trump even suggested that “As long as Bolton shaves his beard, he can enter the cabinet.”
Of course, Bolton’s insistence on appearance, especially on the beard, made him and the Trump government pass by. But he still showed his closeness with Trump in politics. In the first year of Trump’s administration, Bolton held a position to serve as a current commentator on Trux’s daily FOX news station, defending Trump’s policies. Trump’s appointment in April 2018 shows a high degree of trust between the two.
However, Bolton played a disgraceful role in the Iraq war: he formulated the “information on the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.” Today, this intelligence proved to be a lie, and the Iraq war was also determined by the United States. It is “stupid.” Many people involved in this war are either silent or repenting. Bolton insisted that the Iraq war was justified. In 2015, he said in an interview that the decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein was “correct.” When Bolton still wants to continue the war to Iran, North Korea, Syria and even Venezuela, Trump finally felt the threat during the election season.
In this way, when Bolton was marginalized by Trump because he could not restrain his ambitions, the White House ambitions would probably pluck their ambitions in the 2020 presidential election season. The vultures hovering over the White House, I want to continue to grab what I want from Trump’s side at the right time.
Bolton, who has only exposed his possessions, probably won’t have this opportunity: as Trump continues his moderate route and tries to reconcile, the choices left for him may only leave on the eve of a decent surviving.
