Tag Archives: John Bolton

USA Today reports: North Korea on Monday called U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton a “war monger” and “defective human product” after he called the North’s recent tests of short-range missiles a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The statement by an unnamed North Korean foreign ministry spokesman came as President Donald Trump continued his visit to Japan for meetings …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of about 1,500 additional U.S. troops to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, according to two people familiar with the matter. The purpose of the deployment is to enhance the protection of forces already in the region that are dedicated to missile defense, freedom of navigation in Persian Gulf …

Axios reports: At a special meeting on U.S.-Iran tensions with Israel’s intelligence chiefs and top military brass, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would make every effort not to get dragged into the escalation in the Gulf and would not interfere directly in the situation, Israeli officials tell me. Israel was one of the main sources of intelligence on alleged …

CNBC reports: Washington ordered the departure of non-emergency government employees from Iraq on Wednesday, after repeated U.S. expressions of concern about threats from Iranian-backed forces. The U.S. State Department has ordered the pullout of the employees from both the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and its consulate in Erbil, the embassy said in a statement. On Tuesday, the U.S. military reaffirmed …

The New York Times reports: At a meeting of President Trump’s top national security aides last Thursday, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated military plan that envisions sending as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East should Iran attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons, administration officials said. The revisions were ordered by hard-liners led …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump is questioning his administration’s aggressive strategy in Venezuela following the failure of a U.S.-backed effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro, complaining he was misled about how easy it would be to replace the socialist strongman with a young opposition figure, according to administration officials and White House advisers. The president’s dissatisfaction has crystallized around …

CNN reports: The United States is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in response to a “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Iran, US national security adviser John Bolton said Sunday. A US official with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN the threats were against …

Axios reports: National security adviser John Bolton confirmed on “Fox News Sunday” that a Trump administration official signed a document pledging to pay North Korea a $2 million hospital bill to release Otto Warmbier, but that no money was ultimately transferred. President Trump called the Washington Post story that first reported the hospital bill “fake news,” though the report notably …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. imposed sanctions against Venezuela’s state-oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. on Monday in an effort to cripple President Nicolás Maduro’s government and empower an opposition leader. President Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton said the actions will block $7 billion in assets and cost the country $11 billion in lost exports during the …

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Trump’s National Security Council asked the Pentagon to provide the White House with military options to strike Iran last year, generating concern at the Pentagon and State Department, current and former U.S. officials said. The request, which hasn’t been previously reported, came after militants fired three mortars into Baghdad’s sprawling diplomatic quarter, home to …

The New York Times reports: The United States has started withdrawing its troops from Syria, an American military spokesman said on Friday, further muddling the Trump administration’s plans for disengagement from one of the Middle East’s most complex battlefields. As recently as Sunday, President Trump’s national security adviser, John R. Bolton, had said that the pullout was conditional on circumstances …

CNN reports: A heated argument in the West Wing between chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton over a recent surge in border crossings turned into a shouting match Thursday, two sources familiar with the argument told CNN. The exchange lay bare a bitter disagreement that has existed between two of President Donald Trump’s top aides …

The Guardian reports: The Trump administration has warned Tehran that there would be “hell to pay” if it continued to “cross” the US and its allies. The threat was delivered by the national security adviser, John Bolton, a longtime Iran hawk who told an audience of anti-Tehran activists: “The murderous regime and its supporters will face significant consequences if they …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said Wednesday that any meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be put off until 2019 because of special counsel Robert Mueller’s “witch hunt.” “The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we’ve agreed that …

Politico reports: A top National Security Council official was forced out this week, the latest staffing change at the White House-based group since President Donald Trump named John Bolton his national security adviser in March. Jennifer Arangio, a senior director in the NSC division that deals with international organizations, was let go Thursday, according to a former White House official …

Politico reports: National security adviser John Bolton will visit Moscow next week to discuss a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House said on Thursday morning. “On June 25-27, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton will meet with U.S. allies in London and Rome to discuss national security issues, and travel to Moscow …

NBC News reports: John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, chaired a nonprofit that has promoted misleading and false anti-Muslim news, some of which was amplified by a Russian troll factory, an NBC News review found. The group’s authors also appeared on Russian media, including Sputnik and RT News, criticizing mainstream European leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron. …

The Hill reports: Two watchdog groups on Thursday filed a criminal complaint alleging that the Trump campaign and a super PAC controlled by President Trump’s new national security adviser John Bolton worked with the consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to violate a law preventing foreign nations from participating in U.S. elections. In the complaint, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington …

The New York Times reports: Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the battle-tested Army officer tapped as President Trump’s national security adviser last year to stabilize a turbulent foreign policy operation, will resign and be replaced by John R. Bolton, a hard-line former United States ambassador to the United Nations, White House officials said Thursday. General McMaster will retire from the …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump has decided to remove H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser and is actively discussing potential replacements, according to five people with knowledge of the plans, preparing to deliver yet another jolt to the senior ranks of his administration. Trump is now comfortable with ousting McMaster, with whom he never personally gelled, but is …