Donald Trump & John Bolton Are in the Midst of a Very Messy Public Breakup

The White House revolving door keeps turning today, as Donald Trump announced that he fired his National Security Advisor, John Bolton.

Bolton was the third National Security Advisor to leave this administration, as Trump has apparently had trouble finding someone who is both aggressively hawkish enough to quench his bloodlust and fawning enough to satisfy his ego. Bolton is a staunch neocon nationalist who has supported the Iraq War as well as American military intervention in a whole host of foreign regime changes. But he also frowned on Trump’s desire to cosy up to dictators and reportedly refused to support his policies in television interviews.

He also, it should be remembered, always had a seriously weird fixation with that mustache.

But apparently it was Bolton’s disapproval over Trump’s plan to host Taliban leaders at Camp David this week (seriously) that was the final straw and, as with former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and plenty others, Trump fired Bolton by tweet.

Getting fired in a tweet is petty and mean and unprofessional but most who have gone that way just suck it up and leave quietly. Not Bolton, though, who has proven today that he is not averse to some messy drama.

First, he met Trump on his own preferred platform, tweeting the professional equivalent of “You didn’t dump me, I dumped you.”

But then he took things a step further and texted a host of Fox & Friends–Trump’s favorite show and one that he reportedly always watches, while the show was on the air!–to push his version of this breakup.

There is absolutely no one I’m rooting for in this fight. I’m just here for the drama.

So long, John Bolton. I’m sure your replacement will somehow be even worse than you but for now, we can just celebrate your very messy departure.

(image: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

twitter