Former U.N. ambassador and U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said on the Wednesday morning edition of MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” that the resignation of former U.S. National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent is “proof” that there is division within President Trump’s top ranks about the Iran War.
Kent announced his resignation this week, claiming Iran did not actually pose enough of an imminent threat to justify deploying the U.S. military. When asked about Kent’s comments and departure, Bolton told the “Morning Joe” hosts, “I’m glad he resigned. I hope [National Intelligence Director] Tulsi Gabbard resigns soon afterward. If you don’t believe in the administration’s policy, you should resign.”
“There is a division within the top ranks of the administration. This is proof of it,” Bolton added. The former government official, however, said that he does not believe Kent’s “imminence argument” should have actually had any bearing on whether or not the U.S. entered into its current war with Iran.
“From what I know or understand, I don’t think Iran was within weeks of getting a nuclear weapon. If they’ve got information, let’s see it,” Bolton commented. “But I don’t think you need imminence to justify this act of self-defense that we’re engaged in now.” Watch the full “Morning Joe” segment yourself below.
Bolton was additionally asked about the Strait of Hormuz and how important it is that Trump find some way to reopen it sooner rather than later. “I think it’s clearly critical to reopen the Strait, and I’m still surprised that it wasn’t a priority toward the beginning of the military operation,” Bolton said.
“Trump and others have said publicly they really hadn’t thought about the [Strait’s] effect on oil prices. They didn’t think it would be that great,” Bolton continued. “All I can say is every time I raised regime change in [Trump’s] first term, one of the first things people who opposed that option would say was, ‘But they’ll close the Strait of Hormuz.’ So both politically and militarily, I think this should have been done earlier.”
When asked about the ideal outcome of the Iran War, Bolton said the U.S. will have to find someone in Iran who actually has the interest and power to negotiate with them.
“I would be looking for a hypothetical general in the regular army who’s not a religious extremist and who recognizes that the rule of the Ayatollahs is over and wants to do something about the desperate straits the Iranian economy was in before this war even started,” Bolton explained. “That’s the person to negotiate with, not Ayatollah 47 or Ayatollah 48.”
