WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump has named ultra hardline Fox News pundit and former UN ambassador John Bolton as his new national security advisor, ousting embattled army general HR McMaster.
McMaster’s exit is the latest in a string of high-profile departures from the White House that started with national security advisor Michael Flynn and has also included chief of staff Reince Priebus, chief strategist Steve Bannon, economic advisor Gary Cohn and secretary of state Rex Tillerson. “I am pleased to announce that, effective 4/9/18, @AmbJohnBolton will be my new National Security Advisor,” Trump said in a tweet. “I am very thankful for the service of General H.R. McMaster who has done an outstanding job & will always remain my friend. There will be an official contact handover on 4/9.”
McMaster had been expected to leave later this year, so his exit was little surprise. But Bolton’s nomination has stunned much of Washington.
A vocal advocate of the Iraq war, he has also championed preemptive strikes against North Korea and war with Iran - making him an outlier even among Republicans. His appointment had been fiercely opposed by many within Trump’s inner circle, most notably the coterie of military officers who have experienced the brutality of war first hand.
Bolton will now have a central role in crafting US foreign policy, by framing Trump’s decisions on defense and security. His ideological approach to foreign policy matches neatly with Trump’s tough-talking rhetoric, although the two have not always agreed on the use of force. Unlike the secretaries of state or defense, the national security advisor works directly for the president and does not need to be confirmed by the Senate in order to take up his post.
His arrival comes as Trump faces a high stakes meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and weighs the future of a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear weapons, which now appears to be in grave peril.
Israeli ministers on Friday hailed US President Donald Trump’s choice of hardliner John Bolton as his new national security advisor, a pick denounced by a senior Palestinian official.
Bolton is known for his strong support for Israel and his hostility to the Jewish state’s key foe Iran, and once said the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is dead. Ministers from the far-right Jewish Home party and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud hailed the selection of walrus-moustached Bolton.
“President Trump is continuing to appoint true friends of Israel to senior positions. John Bolton stands out among them,” Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked of Jewish Home said in a statement. “The Trump administration is turning out to be the most friendly administration to Israel ever,” she added.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who leads Jewish Home, tweeted that Bolton was “an extraordinary security expert, experienced diplomat and a stalwart friend of Israel.” Environment Minister Zeev Elkin of Netanyahu’s Likud echoed his cabinet colleagues, telling Tel Aviv radio station 102 FM Bolton was “unquestionably a friend of Israel for many years, including in his position as US ambassador to the UN”.
In contrast the Palestinians reacted angrily, with Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, slamming Trump’s pick.
“This man has a long history of hostility to Palestinians, dating to when he was at the United Nations, where he was protecting Israeli immunity,” Ashrawi told AFP, referring to US vetoes of UN resolutions targeting Israel.
Bolton was known as a sharp-tongued and controversial UN ambassador during George W. Bush’s administration who virulently defended Israel.
In 2009 he wrote in The Washington Post that the idea of a two-state solution to the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict was “stillborn” and suggested giving the Palestinian territories to Egypt and Jordan.
Trump threatens to veto spending bill, raising shutdown risk
US President Donald Trump threatened Friday to veto a $1.3 trillion spending bill, taking the US government to the brink of its third shutdown this year.
In a tweet, Trump cited the bill’s failure to adequately fund his Mexico border wall or address the status of young immigrants who are in legal limbo following the repeal of Obama-era protections under a policy known as Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
“I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defence, is not fully funded,” he said.