John Bolton ripped Donald Trump for being played by Vladimir Putin in the hours before FBI agents raided his home on Friday morning.
The president’s ex-national security adviser turned nemesis appeared on CNN on Thursday night to discuss a Truth Social post in which Trump seemed to urge Ukraine to go on the offensive against Russia.
During the interview, Bolton said he believed the Russian president had only met with Trump in Alaska this month to “roll him back” from threats of sanctions, “which I think he did.”
The 76-year-old GOP hawk added that a lack of communication about what was discussed behind closed doors had caused “confusion.”
Bolton told The Source guest host Brianna Keilar: “Frankly, the confusion over the past two and a half weeks, in substantial part, is due to the administration itself not being able to say consistently what has been discussed and what has been decided—whether it‘s on the issue of land swaps or security guarantees—and that confusion continues to this day.
“Of course, the Russians want to slow-roll this [negotiation process]. They‘re hoping the whole thing will go away as they successfully slow-rolled Trump‘s efforts during the first six months.”
Less than 12 hours later, the FBI was going through Bolton’s door and searching his home.
An NBC News source stated that the search was linked to a national security investigation seeking classified records. An FBI spokesperson added the bureau was carrying out “court-authorized activity.”
The veteran Republican adviser and diplomat has faced past allegations of disclosing classified information over his tell-all memoir The Room Where It Happened, but an investigation into the book led nowhere.
During the CNN interview, Trump also came in for mockery from Bolton over his Truth Social post from Thursday in which he appeared to compare himself to former President Richard Nixon.
He invoked Nixon by posting a side-by-side of himself pointing at Putin alongside Nixon confronting former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
Bolton said: “Well, it‘s certainly unusual for any sitting president to compare himself to Richard Nixon, but I think it reflects the White House concern that Trump didn‘t stand up to Putin in Alaska.”
He also said Trump’s approach to the Ukraine-Russia war was unlikely to have investors rushing to put their money into Ukraine, which continues to be heavily bombed by Putin’s troops.
Before dawn Thursday, two Russian cruise missiles slammed into an American electronics factory in western Ukraine, inflicting heavy damage and injuring more than a dozen people, Ukrainian officials said.
The strike came amid one of the war’s biggest overnight barrages, with Russia launching over 570 drones and 40 missiles, according to the same officials. The country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on social media that at least 15 people were wounded.
Bolton said: “The administration sold the investment in Ukraine, in mines in Ukraine, as a way of economically providing a security guarantee against further Russian action, saying the more American investment there is, the less likely the Russians will take further military action.
“I have to say after this, I don‘t see a long line of American firms rushing to do business in Ukraine. If we continue our present policy.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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