‘Stupid Guy’: Trump blames Bolton for Iraq war, revokes Secret Service
Shafaq News/ US President Donald Trump revoked Secret Service protection for his former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, blaming him for the 2003 Iraq war.
Defending his decision to reporters, Trump stated, “I think there was enough time. We take a job, you take a job, you want to do a job, we’re not going to have security on people for the rest of their lives. Why should we?"
Trump also accused Bolton of leading the US into the Iraq war in 2003 while serving under President George W. Bush. "He's the one that got us involved, along with Cheney and a couple of others, convinced Bush, which was a terrible decision, to blow up the Middle East,” he explained.
“We blew up the Middle East and we left.” He added, "We got nothing out of it except a lot of death. We killed a lot of people, and John Bolton was one of those guys, a stupid guy. But no, you can't have that for life.”
In turn, Bolton regretted Trump's decision, stating, “I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection previously provided by the United States Secret Service.”
Notably, Bolton served as Trump's National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019. Following his resignation over disagreements with Trump, he published a book revealing sensitive details about the administration and delivering sharp criticism of the president.
The US accused members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps of plotting to assassinate Bolton in 2022 as retaliation for the killing of Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. However, US authorities could not apprehend any suspects identified by the Department of Justice.
