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Donald Trump's former security adviser John Bolton believes that the destruction of Iranian nuclear sites is long overdue. He has been recommending this for 20 years, said Bolton at an event organized by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) entitled “Remaking America? Contesting Visions from Trump and Beyond” in Berlin. Back then, however, this was still possible with lower risks and at lower costs. “We did not act and now we must bear the consequences.”

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Bolton was National Security Advisor from April 2018 to September 2019 during Donald Trump's first term, who asked him to resign due to disagreements. Once a close associate, Bolton became one of the US president's harshest critics. Among other things, he laid down his criticism in the book “The Room Where It All Happened.” The Republican belongs to the interventionist faction within the Republicans, which also wants to assert America's interests by military means - as in the Iraq War in 2003.

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However, he does not know whether the US president will decide to support Israel in its current bombing of Iran, said Bolton. In fact, he has probably not yet formed an opinion. Trump himself had stated that Iran should not have nuclear weapons, but that his vice president and his head of intelligence had warned him against participating in Israel's war against Iran. “Trump always wants to be on the winning side, and is now probably trying to find out who could win.” US aid focuses in particular on bunker-busting weapons, without which Israel cannot destroy the particularly well-protected Fordo underground uranium enrichment facility. The complex was opened in 2009.

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Bolton thinks Israel's response to the Hamas massacre in October 2023 was correct. The right of self-defense includes eliminating a threat. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had the Palestinian territory bombed since the attack on Jewish villages on the border with the Gaza Strip. 55,000 people have died so far, including many children. “People in Gaza have no future as long as they are surrounded by a cancer called Hamas,” said Bolton. The weakening of the Iranian regime is a result of the substantial weakening of Hamas. And if the destruction of the Fordo nuclear facility contributes to a fall in leadership in Tehran, there is a chance of peace and security. They do not exist as long as the Ayatollah regime exists. On the other hand, the Republican believes that a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians is unlikely. The only humanitarian option for people in the Gaza Strip is to settle somewhere else. To do so, he would replace UNRWA with the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

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In order to understand Trump's political behaviour in the recent crises in the Middle East, in Ukraine or towards China, one must always keep his personality in mind, because it is unique, a deviation from the norm, so to speak. Bolton did not paint a very favourable picture of this personality at the DGAP event. ‘He didn't read the briefing papers that we routinely wrote for him in the Security Council.’ When Trump met with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018 and before that with Theresa May in the UK, he briefed him on strategic nuclear weapons for the first time on the flight between Scotland and Helsinki, for 15 minutes - while Trump was watching a World Cup football match. ‘Our president goes into meetings with people like this totally unprepared.’ While Trump thinks they are friends, Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un are pursuing their clear national interests.

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Trump's actions, on the other hand, do not conceal any major strategy or philosophy. There is also no decision-making process. His decisions are ad hoc, incoherent. During his first term of office, he made thousands of decisions, most of which looked like “a huge archipelago of dots” that the president himself could not connect. By making Secretary of State Marco Rubio a kind of new Henry Kissinger, giving him the additional job of National Security Advisor and firing most of the Security Council, it has now become even more difficult for federal authorities and agencies to coordinate with each other. “Trump views every issue as something completely new,” Bolton emphasized.

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As is well known, he judges foreign policy and security issues primarily from the perspective of personal relationships with foreign leaders. “If he believes that someone is his friend, then the state relations with the country are also good.” But Putin doesn't think that way, nor does any other statesman he, Bolton, knows. Trump has a particular preference for authoritarian leaders such as the Russian President. “Not because he is a Russian agent — I would have heard that during the 17 months I've seen him almost every day.” It is probably most likely that he plays the role of a useful idiot for the Russians.

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Trump never had good relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He knew that Ukraine actively stood up for its competitor Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election campaign. In principle, the President does not understand very much about Europe. He had once asked one of his former chiefs of staff whether Finland was still part of Russia. And Theresa May asked: “Do you have nuclear weapons?” This is also how he approaches the conflict in Ukraine and joining NATO. He sees no value in defending Ukraine because he doesn't understand how alliances work. According to Bolton, a strong defense and a strong American presence in the world also make the USA safer. “We didn't defend all these countries because we're such nice people, but because it suits our interests.”

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Trump is not a conservative Republican. Many of his decisions, such as tariff policy, would be more in line with the actions of a democrat. That is why, according to Bolton, the Democratic Party also criticizes him remarkably rarely. His former boss had no sense of fiscal responsibility. “He gained wealth and lost money with other people.” Contrary to the opinion of many, he did not convert the Republican Party and, according to Bolton, he did not believe that he would reshape international economic relations, even though a number of negative decisions had already been made about this. But he thinks it would be dangerous if Europe learns exactly that from previous decisions. The world will not end in 43 months with the end of Trump's - “second and last” - term of office. “Don't act like that. There is a future.” The damage left behind by Trump's government will be repaired. “I'm very optimistic right now. Almost ten percent (of the time) is done. “

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Bolton described himself as a “very conservative Republican.” For conservatives in the USA, reducing the government apparatus has been part of their thinking for decades. But executive power always remains with the president, controlled by the legislature and the judiciary. Bolton does not see their independence at risk even now, even though Trump will certainly test it. It is “hysteria” on the part of some people who see democracy in the country at risk. “Trump is not Catilina, Pompey or even Caesar. I see the Republic in good shape.” gd