John Bolton and President Trump got into a heated argument last night, according to two people familiar with what happened, over the President’s plan to host Taliban leaders at Camp David.
It’s unclear if it was on the phone or in person.
Trump fires John Bolton as national security adviser
By Veronica Rocha, Mike Hayes and Meg Wagner, CNN
Updated 3:40 p.m. ET, September 10, 2019
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Bolton and Trump got into bitter argument last night
From CNN's Kaitlan Collins
National Security Council officials are wondering about future of the organization after Bolton's firing
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
Officials at the National Security Council are wondering about the future of their organization after the abrupt firing of John Bolton.
When Bolton arrived in March 2018, he brought with him several officials to fill key roles —and the fate of those officials isn't clear.
As staffers detailed to the NSC phased out, Bolton worked to replace them with people he'd worked with previously and he considered loyal to him. His goal was to have senior leaders in place that were "his people" as the 2020 election season began.
If those officials depart en masse, the NSC will be majorly depleted, so it's not expected they will all follow Bolton out the door.
But there is uncertainty today about what happens next.
The campaign to push Bolton out had ramped up recently
From CNN's Kaitlan Collins
The campaign by Trump allies to push John Bolton out of the administration had ramped up in recent weeks, multiple sources tell CNN.
The President had received multiple phone calls and appeals to replace Bolton with someone who agreed with him more and was willing to follow through with his decisions when he didn’t.
This was something Trump heard since he hired Bolton — but people noticed the President’s frustration with him was growing in recent weeks so they upped the pressure.
White House and national security officials learned about Bolton firing via tweet
From CNN's Jim Acosta
A senior administration official told CNN that the White House and national security officials learned about John Bolton’s firing from President Trump’s tweet.
The official described aides as frantically trying to figure things out at the moment.
Sen. Mitt Romney: Bolton leaving is a "huge loss" for the administration
From CNN's Jeremy Herb
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney called John Bolton's departure a "huge loss" for the Trump administration and said he was "very unhappy" to learn he was leaving.
"The loss of John Bolton as a senior leader in foreign policy is an extraordinary loss for our nation and for the White House," the Utah lawmaker told reporters.
Romney said that Bolton was an important voice in the room because he would take a different view.
“John Bolton is a brilliant man with decades of experience in foreign policy. His point of view was not always the same everybody else in the room. That’s why you wanted him there. The fact that he was a contrarian from time to time was an asset, not a liability.”
Asked who should replace Bolton, Romney said, "John Bolton."
President Trump was unhappy with reports he overruled Bolton
From CNN's Kaitlan Collins
President Trump was irked by reports that he had faced internal pushback from his national security adviser John Bolton over his decision to host leaders of the Taliban at Camp David, multiple people familiar with his frustration said.
Some background: Trump eventually scrapped the event after a Taliban car bomb killed a US soldier and 11 others last week. But that decision came after heated debate within the administration over the venue for the summit — an outgrowth of larger, more substantial disagreements over the wisdom of negotiating with the Taliban at all.
Trump disputed reporting that he overruled Pence and "various advisers" on the Camp David meeting.
"I always think it is good to meet and talk, but in this case I decided not to," the President tweeted Monday.
Mnuchin says the 1:30 p.m. ET briefing will still happen
From CNN’s Donna Borak
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined to comment if he was “surprised” by President Trump’s decision to ask national security adviser John Bolton to resign.
“I’m not going to comment,” said Mnuchin in a gaggle with reporters.
Earlier today, the White House said Bolton, Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would hold a 1:30 p.m. ET news conference. That briefing is still going to happen, Mnuchin said.
“This is a very important issue for the President,” Mnuchin said. “We have been working on this across the agencies with Secretary Pompeo. And Secretary Pompeo and I will be at 1:30 in the press room.”
Bolton tweets he offered to resign last night
John Bolton just tweeted that he offered to resign last night as President Trump's national security adviser.
Bolton went on to describe a meeting he had with Trump, tweeting that he had told him, "Let's talk about it tomorrow."
The tweets came minutes after Trump announced on Twitter that he informed Bolton on Monday that "his services were no longer needed."
Here's the tweet:
Bolton was set to appear at a White House news conference in about an hour
About an hour ago, the White House announced a news conference with John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
That briefing — scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET – is expected to be about the expansion of the counterterrorism executive order aimed at modernizing designations, according to a White House official.
There will be new designations of individuals, the official said.