Bolton: Trump’s Denial of Russia Report Shows His ‘Fundamental Focus’ Is on Himself, ‘Not the Security of Our Forces’

Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton slammed President Donald Trump over his response to the reports of Russian bounties to Taliban militants for killing U.S. forces.

Despite what the reporting said, the office of the Director of National Intelligence put out a statement claiming that neither POTUS nor Vice President Mike Pence were briefed on the matter.

"The White House statement addressing this issue earlier today, which denied such a briefing occurred, was accurate. The New York Times reporting, and all other subsequent news reports about such an alleged briefing are inaccurate.” (2/2)

— Office of the DNI (@ODNIgov) June 28, 2020

Trump himself, meanwhile, tweeted Sunday morning “nobody briefed or told me” about it, trashed the New York Times, and even managed to invoke Hunter Biden:

…Nobody’s been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration. With Corrupt Joe Biden & Obama, Russia had a field day, taking over important parts of Ukraine – Where’s Hunter? Probably just another phony Times hit job, just like their failed Russia Hoax. Who is their “source”?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2020

Jake Tapper started his interview with Bolton Sunday asking for his reaction to the stunning report and the president’s reaction.

Bolton started by saying “there’s much we don’t know” and sometimes get things wrong, before telling Tapper it’s clear Russia wants the U.S. out of Afghanistan. “So if it is true — underline the word if — that they are paying surrogates to kill Americans, this is one of the most serious matters that has arisen in the Trump administration.”

He went on to say he’s “puzzled” by the president’s tweet:

“What would motivate the president to do that? Because it looks bad if Russians are paying to kill Americans and we’re not doing anything about it. So what is the presidential reaction? It’s to say ‘it’s not my responsibility, nobody told me about it.’ And therefore to duck any complaints that he hasn’t acted effectively. This is part of the problem with President Trump’s decision-making in the national security space. It’s just unconnected to the reality he’s dealing with. It’s about his personal position.”

“The fact that the president feels compelled to tweet about the news story here,” Bolton added, “shows that what his fundamental focus is is not the security of our forces, but whether he looks like he wasn’t paying attention.”

You can watch above, via CNN.

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