National security adviser, John Bolton, left office rather abruptly on Tuesday due to his and President Trump's conflicting viewpoints and opinions over international issues. The third national security adviser to go during Trump's presidency, Bolton was stated to be very firm in his militaristic stances and pro-war beliefs. Bolton's bold personality and insistence on his personal beliefs often clashed with Trump's views, causing tension to rise between the two. Furthermore, Bolton openly disagreed with Trump for his friendly approach with the North Korean leader and his sudden dismissal of a military attack on Iran.
Many changes have seemed to occur under the presidency of Donald Trump regarding foreign policy stances, but also government advisories and officials. Bolton's resignation came as a surprise to some as it happened rather quickly and unexpectedly: only a few hours before he was planned to do a news briefing on terrorism. After having two other advisers resign from office under Trump's presidency, it seems as if the continuing change of personnel has led to unstable U.S. relationships with foreign countries who constantly have to deal with new advisers and opinions.
1. What do you think of Bolton's resignation and being the third of Trump's national security advisers to do so?
2. How will this affect the national government in terms of who will serve as the next national security adviser, and whether the resignations will be a recurring action?
3. In regards to Bolton's actual beliefs, do you think his stances on foreign affairs were too radical?
I believe Bolton's resignation does not shed light on our national security advisers, but rather on our president. In blatant terms, it proves that Trump does not play well with others. Our national security adviser is meant to help guide the president in making better and well thought out decisions, but Trump continues to disregard their expertise and advice. Knowing that three advisers have resigned, we can conclude that Trump does not even consider what his advisers tell him and makes decisions on his own. I believe three people have left because they believe they have no influence over international policies and affairs because Trump will just do whatever he wants anyways. This behavior is similar to the behavior that leads to devolution because such stronghold policies made by one man may cause others to ignore national authority and create new policies. I believe as long as the advise of the national security adviser is ignored, resignations will continue to happen unless the next one absolutely agrees with the way Trump is dealing with foreign relations. I would not consider Bolton's beliefs as radical, but there are some things I agree with and some I don't. I believe he was rightfully aggravated by the new relations between Trump and Kim Jong-un because it could be interpreted as supporting a socialistic dictatorship. Conversations must be had between the president and the national security adviser to guarantee the best decisions are being made for our country.
ReplyDeleteIn response to question 3, I believe that the foreign affairs of the US under Bolton were likely taking a dark turn if one considers the prospect of war to be dark. Responding to all national conflict with military action is not always the best decision, because the goals of good politicians include avoiding war due to the strain it puts on the countries involved, as well as their relations with other nations. Violence where it is not completely necessary is a bad thing, however, appeasement is also a bad option. When WWII started, it was clearly because of too much leeway granted to Germany due to other countries attempting to avoid war. Too much diplomacy can result in compromises that put the world in danger rather than start a war. Thus, neither of the radical viewpoints of Trump and Bolton would be an effective way to lead foreign policy.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that there is a consistent repeat of international issues and foreign affairs conflicts which have arose during Trump's presidency should have been pointed out months ago. Morgan touched on it already but I just want to emphasize how much Trump's policies have caused so many people to turn away from him. Many of his advisors, obviously those who didn't vote for him, as well as even his most devout supporters. Of course this is true with any presidency, but it's a blatant theme during Trump's presidency in particular. I would not necessarily say Bolton's war focus is radical because he shares many of the same ideals of other officials and military leaders therefore a war-forward mindset isn't unpopular in our government. Trump hasn't listened to any of his advisors really to what it seems in the news. This arrogancy has caused many of his advisors and staff to leave him. A similar concept to devolution and how many states have turned their back on his policies.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm correct, President Trump stated that he removed Mr. Bolton from office. I don't think we should take his words (especially from Twitter) at face value, but there are multiple sides to this story.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the first question, the litany of Trump's cabinet removals is quite worrying. The president has already shown himself to be an irrational man, but I don't believe he is wrong in removing Bolton from office, if it happened as he tells it. I hope I am not too radical in saying all wars are bad. Bolton's resignation from office is a good thing to me. His pro-war standpoint is not, and never will be, something to uphold. Yes, his stances on foreign affairs were too radical.
Oh wait, I want to respond to Sydney.
Violence is always a bad thing. Death is always a bad thing. There are other ways to negotiate without appeasement. WWII is a bad example because the appeasement prior to the second great war was heavily influenced by the horrors that occured in the first. It is because the country was hit hard by war's effects on the lost generation that the allies were encouraged to make peace by any means necessary, even if it means giving into the demands of a tyrannical fascist. It's an unfair comparison, if you ask me.
tl;dr war is bad
Firstly, I think it is concerning that Trump can't maintain relations with his national security advisor. Bolton is the third national security advisor in Trump's 4 year term, and it explains Trump's actions and irrationality. Although, I think it was a good thing that Bolton resigned from office because his ideas were very radical in a sense that he had pro-war stand points. I don't think that with Bolton's views on war would help benefit America. It would only destroy relations with other countries. I think if Trump can start to negotiate with his national security advisors, it won't be troubling for the national government in the future. However, seeing as Bolton has been the 3rd national security advisor since Trump has been president, I think it would be hard to maintain relations with other countries. Even with Bolton in office, it would create a worse scenario for the US in that he believed in militaristic stances against other countries.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is very consistent with the history of his administration to have very unstable and unpredictable administration changes so often that he almost has never had an entirely full administration. The consistency makes it even more concerning, as he can't hold a set of officials in office either because they weren't a good fit for the office (often having no prior political experience or experience in the particular field) or because he disagreed with them. In this case, it was definitely both. Not only did Bolton not have any prior political or military experience, he was extremely hawkish and was very radical and even belligerent in his propositions towards the Middle East and South America. In fact, he was so hawkish, oil prices in the stock market actually dropped after he left office, signifying that investors believed with him gone, oil markets would open up and there would be more supply without his hawkish sanctions and other propositions (https://www.wsj.com/articles/oil-prices-sink-after-trump-ousts-john-bolton-11568148284). This is a huge signifier that his opinions were much too radical, and reveal that him leaving office might have been the best option for foreign diplomacy and international opinion on America.
ReplyDeleteI think it's unprofessional and concerning that our president feels the need to get rid of people around him that disagree with him. As the leader of a country, he should be open to different opinions and constructive criticism. His job is to make America better than it was before and he's been failing at that on every level because he refuses to accept the advice and judgement from the people that are there to help. Things can't improve if we only look at the good. We have to pay attention to the bad so that we can work out a plan to make it better. Trump is probably going to appoint an advisor that agrees with him on many things so that he will have an easier time getting things done, which is concerning because he doesn't want the best thing, he wants the easiest.
ReplyDeleteThe resignations are very consistent and I believe these resignations will continue as long as Trump is in office.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not Bolton leaving office was justified or not, I think that Bolton’s resignation emphasize President Trump’s inability to work with other people. It is normal for everyone to have differing opinions on certain things; however, the fact that Trump can’t establish or maintain a professional relationship with people he disagrees with is concerning. As a very important and prominent figure who represents our country, I think it is vital for him to have an open mind and listen to values and beliefs that differ from his. It is true that Bolton had very radical views regarding foreign nation, which show it was probably better in the long run for him to leave office. However, that still doesn’t change the main concern of the abundant number of resignations and firings during his presidential term since it emphasizes how unprofessional and close-minded Trump is.
ReplyDeleteI am happy John Bolton resigned--but the fact that he was the third national security advisor to resign serves as further proof of how dysfunctional the Trump administration is. Hopefully the next National Security Advisor will not be as much of a warhawk, but with our current president I don’t have much confidence in who he chooses to serve in his administration. John Bolton’s stances on foreign affairs were far too radical, he always advocated for war no matter the situation. I would strongly prefer a National Security Adviser who took a much more diplomatic approach to international relations instead of always wanting to start wars.
ReplyDeleteI think Bolton's resignation seems somewhat immature to be completely honest. Yes, he has his own opinions/views on certain issues but using violence as a means of solving problems, every single time should not be encouraged. This "pro-war and militaristic attitude which he possesses could have more detrimental effects that positive ones, so in a sense, it makes sense and is good for the US that he resigned. Also, since national policy/security is supposed to be PROTECTING the US, rather than encouraging engagement in war, again, his resignation could potentially protect the US. I don't think his resignation will create a patterns of resignations as this is simply his problem with issues not being handled the way he wants. It' not every day that we see mayors, or congressmen, etc. resign so it would not make sense for this one resignation to create a pattern/cycle. Finally, as far as his stance, I do think he was too radical. So radical that when his preferred agenda was not being met, it caused him to resign. Again, war/violence does not solve every issue - problems/arguments/political issues can be solved without it.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal opinion, Bolton seemed to take a very aggressive stance on foreign affairs, which is concerning the conflicts that the US is having with other countries should be handled with diplomacy. After Bolton’s resignation, Trump will probably be looking for someone with less radical views to appoint as his next national security advisor. Since taking office, Trump has had an alarmingly high turnover rate, which is not only indicative of his inability to select competent people to hold office in his administration, but also sheds light on his narrow mindset and unwillingness to compromise and listen to ideas that differ from his own. While in this case there seems to be a valid reason for Bolton’s resignation, in other cases Trump has let go of several important officials just because they voiced their disagreement with one or more of his policies.
ReplyDeleteClearly, Bolton and Trump have very different views on foreign policies. And the fact that he is the third national security advisor to resign during Trump's presidency already puts Trump in a lower position. People would think that Trump deal with disagreements simply by removing his opponent out of office, rather than considering different ideas, which is something people expect their presidents to do. The next advisor would probably be someone who has similar views as Trump does, otherwise, he will probably also resign after a while in office. But at the same time, I think Bolton's beliefs were also too radical , which is probably why Trump wants to remove him from office.
ReplyDeleteJohn Bolton has historically been quite a hawk for war. He has on multiple occasions encouraged war with Iran. This is a quite dangerous idea as a war with Iran would cause thousands of deaths without a real, winner. The US would be there for decades like in Afganistan. Therefore I would argue that the world is a far safer place now that Bolton has left the Trump administration. However, on a larger level, this does expose how unstable Trump’s cabinet is since people are being replaced extremely often. As for the future, we will need to see who Trump chooses as his next national security advisor.
ReplyDeleteI think Bolton's dismissal is ultimately just another casualty of the Trump administration that affirms one simple fact about Trump's Cabinet: its a revolving door. Whether or not Bolton had been as fiery or contrary as he was, he would ultimately have left for one reason or another just because that is the nature of Trump's cabinet. However, I think its a good thing that he left. Trump already has enough war-mongering tendencies without an influence like Bolton around. Bolton was historically overeager to engage in military action even when other solutions were possible or untested. Its a good thing he's gone, but I fear for who his replacement will be.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good thing Bolton has left foreign affairs. Due to his "pro-war" perspective, this would eventually effect foreign affairs between the US and other countries. For example, Trump wanted to take out the US forces in Syria but, Bolton put a halt to this. Bolton seemed to have antipathy towards international treaties and organizations. For example, with Iran, Bolton attempted to urge Trump to maintain the Iran Nuclear Accord (because Iran was following the terms of this), but Trump eventually withdrew from this and therefore left strains with Iran.
ReplyDeleteNeedles to say, the fact that the Trump administration has led the resignation of three national security advisers in the time span of less than a term is baffling. The fact of the matter is that, Trump often finds himself to clash with the advice of professionals and works to achieve his own personal agenda. Since Bolton is the third national security adviser to resign, there is quite the concern to the welfare of the United States and its security. If this trend continues, the security of the United States will increasingly become uncertain and disastrous results can follow. In terms of Bolton in particular, his beliefs are those of absurdity. The pro-war perspective could lead to the deaths of countless lives and worse. I believe that his resignation is most certainly a positive outcome.
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