Trump vs Bolton: A timeline of the president and his former national security advisor’s long-running feud
The FBI conducted an early-morning raid at the home of President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton – the latest in the growing feud between the president and ex-confidant.
FBI agents moved in and out of Bolton’s home in Bethesda, Maryland, Friday. It was reported to be part of a classified document investigation, but federal investigators have released few details.
The raid comes as Bolton has become an outspoken critic of Trump, particularly with regard to the president’s approach to Russia. But, just a few years ago, Bolton was one of the president’s top foreign policy advisers during Trump’s first turn in the White House. He served as National Security Adviser from 2018 to 2019, and was admired by the president.
However, the two clashed especially on North Korea, and Trump fired Bolton with a social media post. That led to Bolton becoming a frequent critic.
Here is what you need to know about the feud between the two men and some of the pivotal moments:
One year after first being interviewed for the position of National Security Advisor but losing out to H.R. McMaster, Trump announced on Twitter (now X) that Bolton would be replacing taking up the role – despite rumors that the president was not a fan of Bolton’s signature mustache.
Things started seemingly well, and a month later Bolton pressed the president to withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal, which he did in May.
The pair continued to be in-step in July after Bolton declined to comment definitively on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had been involved in the Kremlin’s cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Even after 12 Russian military intelligence officers were indicted by the U.S. for hacking the DNC, Bolton remained diplomatic, telling Russian radio station Echo Moskvy that any such interference had not affected the outcome of the election.
It came despite Bolton’s previous rhetoric in 2017 that any interference by Russia would be “a true act of war, and one Washington will never tolerate.”
By May the following year, cracks began to show in the relationship, with The New York Times reported that Trump was complaining about Bolton and his advice in private – later undercutting him publicly on North Korea and Iran.
The disconnect continued following the emergence of a scandal that alleged Trump had attempted to coerce Ukraine into investigating his political rival Joe Biden – with the aim of damaging the Democrat’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Bolton later wrote in his memoir that the president had told him in August 2019 that he wanted to continue to freeze aid to Ukraine until officials there pursued investigations into his rival and other top Democrats.
In a post online, Trump announced that Bolton had been fired, saying that he “disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration” – though he did thank Bolton “very much for his service.”
