Officials Reportedly Accusing John Bolton of Trying to Blow Up North Korea Talks

Multiple officials are accusing National Security Advisor John Bolton of intentionally trying to thwart U.S. talks with North Korea, according to CNN.

Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Michelle Kosinski said Bolton’s suggestion that the regime follow the same path to denuclearization as Libya was meant to backfire. That’s because for Libya, the end game was the killing of its leader, Muammar Gaddafi. It’s possible Bolton floated the idea hoping to provoke anger from dictator Kim Jong Un.

Kosinski told anchor Brooke Baldwin that sources have said Bolton “wanted to throw this big monkey wrench into the works, possibly blow up the entire process of talks because he felt that it wouldn’t end up in the U.S.’s favor in the end.”

“Whether that was because he felt like North Korea wasn’t going to play the game or he felt like the U.S. side wasn’t going to be capable of getting everything they want, that is up for debate among these sources, but they feel that this was a deliberate attempt to shake things up,” Kosinski explained. “That then angered not only the president but the secretary of state.”

Bolton’s actions have now reportedly cost him his role in organizing the North Korea summit, which is scheduled to take place in Singapore on June 12 at 9 a.m. local time.

Kosinski said “Bolton is now cut out of the process, cut out of the North Korea issue, at least for now,” noting  “that’s really stunning to see, especially when he came in to make changes and to get things like this done.”

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

[Image via screengrab]

Follow Amy Russo on Twitter: @amymrusso

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!