John Bolton Undermines Trump in First Speech After Firing: North Korea Will ‘Never’ Give Up Nukes
John Bolton took a very pessimistic tone on President Donald Trump’s North Korea strategy as he delivered his first speech since the president fired him as White House national security advisor.
Bolton spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Monday, where he offered his “unvarnished” view about the threat North Korea’s nuclear weapons program presents to American security. As he spoke of how it is “unacceptable” that the rogue nation still possesses nukes, Bolton noted that North Korea “has not made a strategic decision to give up its nuclear weapons.”
“I think the strategic decision that Kim Jong Un is operating through is that he will do whatever he can to keep a deliverable nuclear weapons capability and to develop and enhance it further,” Bolton continued. “He may try to get relief from international sanctions. He may make some concessions. But under current circumstances, he will never give up the nuclear weapons voluntarily.”
Bolton wouldn’t directly answer a question about whether he thinks Trump’s diplomatic methods with Kim — which the reporter questioning him termed a “bromance” — could work. But he did double down on his view that the “Libya model” is the best way to deal with North Korea. While Trump frequently brags about the relationship he cultivated with Kim, his claims that North Korea has rolled back missile tests have fallen apart, and Bolton warned against Trump’s dismissal of concerns on the matter.
“One reason, one very good, very troubling reason there’s no more testing of nuclear weapons for the moment or of long range missiles is that North Korea has in its judgment – for good or ill – finished testing and can produce nuclear warheads and long range ballistics missiles. That’s not an encouraging sign, that’s a sign to be worried about.”
Bolton went on with his speech to warn about the role North Korea could play in enabling nuclear proliferation, which the U.S. has to stop.
“These are questions that need to focus our attention,” Bolton said, “not ‘Can we get another summit with Kim Jong Un?’ or ‘What the state of staff-level negotiations are to achieve a commitment from North Korea it will never honor?'”
When Bolton left the White House last month, all indications suggested it was a messy affair due to irreconcilable differences of opinion between him and the Trump administration. Trump bashed Bolton multiple times since the former was cut loose, and Bolton has criticized Trump’s positions on matters like North Korea, Iran and the Taliban.
Watch above, via CSPAN
