They were also never wild about former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whose ties to Arab monarchies and Russia were always a source of suspicion. Many of them signed a letter way back in March 2016 that called Bolton “utterly unfitted to the office” of the president due to, among other things, his temperament, his Islamophobic and anti-immigration positions, and his isolationist, “America First” rhetoric and tendencies. Kristol’s concern about Bolton is clearly shared by at least some of the “NeverTrumpers,” including many national-security neoconservatives who strongly opposed Trump’s rise within the Republican Party. I believe that a vote for Pompeo equals a vote for Bolton equals a vote for war, because I think some form of aggressive military action under this team is highly likely unless Pentagon chief Jim Mattis and the Joint Chiefs can somehow prevail against the duo and Trump’s “darker, more impulsive tendencies.”) Indeed, the two men appear to hold nearly identical views on foreign policy generally with the exception that, unlike Pompeo, Bolton doesn’t claim divine sanction for his preferred policies and, unlike Bolton, Pompeo avoids going out of his way to alienate or humiliate people. (Of course, senators will have the opportunity to vote next month on Secretary of State-designate Mike Pompeo, whose opposition to the nuclear deal has been just as fervent as Bolton’s. That he is now worried about Bolton should send a strong message to both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress who will not have the chance to vote on his appointment. Kristol, along with his ideological confreres, campaigned hard against the JCPOA and has always taken an extremely hawkish line toward Tehran. withdrawal-as opposed to its gradual, hollowing out-from the deal would backfire and isolate Washington from its European allies in particular. Kristol also noted, significantly, that, with respect to the Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA), “he’s much more of a get-rid-of-the-deal, rather than a fix-the-deal kinda guy.” Kristol is thus following the lead of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the most generously funded and active of the anti-Iran groups, which is worried that an abrupt, unilateral U.S. In the interview, Kristol argues correctly that Bolton is not a true neoconservative and is much more of “a national interest, America-First kind of guy,” adding that he ”will be a little more of a reinforcer of Trump and a little less of a restrainer of Trump.” This prospect clearly chills him given what Sykes described as the president’s “darker, more impulsive tendencies.” I like John Bolton, I respect John Bolton, but I’ve got to say that John Bolton as national security advisor is a little nervous-making. With Donald Trump as president, it makes me nervous. I think he was a useful spur to rethinking some things, being a little more aggressive, being a little more challenging. I like the idea that John Bolton was in the George H.W. Indeed, Kristol, who remains probably the single most influential figure in the increasingly fractious neoconservative movement, expressed some serious discomfort about the appointment in a Weekly Standard Interview with Charlie Sykes last Friday.
Bill Kristol was not altogether pleased with with last week’s announcement of the appointment of John Bolton as Donald Trump’s next national security advisor.
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