Though he only served as national security adviser for a short time (less than a year) John Bolton saw enough of how failed, one-term former President Donald Trump handled the issue of foreign policy to form an opinion, and he made it clear on Newsmax that he doesn’t think very highly of the twice-impeached ex-president.
During an appearance on the right-wing “news” network (which is even fonder of lies and conspiracy theories than Fox), Bolton was challenged by host Rob Schmitt, who desperately tried to make Trump’s fecklessness look like success by starting the interview with this statement to the former national security adviser:
“There is something to be said, though, about the simple fact that there was not aggression during the four years. I mean, you were part of that administration as well and there was not aggression from Russia, and they waited him out, it seems, and made a move.
“In 2018, he looked NATO members in the eye and talked about the reliance on Russian energy by Europe and how horrible that was.
“I mean, he took a very tough stance against Russia. I’m surprised you don’t think that he would have handled this (the Russian invasion of Ukraine) better than Joe Biden.”
A tough stance? Bolton wasn’t buying it:
“No he didn’t. He did not.”
And then Bolton got very specific with his criticism, making it clear that he believes Trump is a fool:
“In almost every case the sanctions were imposed with Trump complaining about it, saying we were being too hard. The fact is he barely knew where Ukraine was.
“He once asked John Kelly, the second chief of staff, if Finland were part of Russia. It’s just not accurate to say that Trump’s behavior somehow deterred the Russians.”
Near the end of the interview, Schmitt (who seemed desperate to say something Bolton would agree with) remarked that Trump had been the first president to warn European leaders about relying on Russia for gas and oil.
Biden called BS on that, shouting down the host:
“You’re absolutely wrong! You’re absolutely wrong!
“The first person to tell the Europeans not to rely on Russian oil and gas was Ronald Reagan.”
Donald Trump was an utter failure as president. He failed to keep the economy strong, failed to address the COVID pandemic, failed to be tough on Vladimir Putin, and failed to look out for anyone but himself.
If Trump was still president, Putin would already be invading Poland and Donald would be making excuses for him.
