(NewsNation) — In a recent opinion piece published by The Hill, John Bolton, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump and former ambassador to the United Nations, sounded the alarm about what a second Trump term would mean for America’s foreign policy.
Titled, “Erratic, irrational and unconstrained: What a second Trump term would mean for America’s foreign policy,” the article reflects Bolton’s concerns and observations during his tenure in the Trump administration.
“I wanted to try and describe for people what it was like to watch Trump make national security-related decisions,” Bolton said during an appearance on “The Hill on NewsNation.”
Bolton explained that Trump does not adhere to a traditional political philosophy or policy directions.
“I think probably the most important thing … for people to understand (is that) Donald Trump doesn’t really have a philosophy as we understand it in political terms,” he said. “He doesn’t think in policy directions when he makes decisions, certainly in the national security space. It’s really all connected with how things benefit Donald Trump.”
Bolton stressed that understanding this aspect of Trump’s decision-making is crucial in assessing the potential impact on America’s foreign policy.
“What I tried to do in the piece is lay out some of the flaws of his decision-making, because it can affect the substance of the outcome,” he said.
Throughout the piece, Bolton outlined the flaws he perceived in Trump’s approach to national security decisions.
He cited the former president’s negotiation of a deal with the Taliban, which was later implemented by President Biden, as a disastrous mistake that compromised America’s national security. Bolton also expressed concerns about Trump’s handling of Iran.
“He did not deal with the threat of terrorism from Iran effectively. He threatened the existence of NATO,” Bolton said. “He was extremely erratic in his handling of the Venezuelan opposition and their efforts to overthrow the authoritarian Maduro regime in Venezuela. I mean, there’s a long list here.”
Addressing claims by some Republicans that Trump’s first term had a “not bad” track record, Bolton pointed out that many of the accomplishments attributed to Trump were contrary to his original intentions.
“I think those who make these claims about what Trump did his first term don’t really understand how we got to the places we did,” Bolton said. “Because many of the things they now give Trump credit for, he wanted to go in the opposite direction.”