Donald Trump claimed he fired John Bolton in a tweet on Tuesday as polls showed his approval rating falling 38 per cent, down six points on his July career-best according to a new ABC News/Washington Post, as concerns over the fate of the American economy linger.
The president's abrupt announcement created a flurry of dramatic TV news, with Mr Bolton apparently texting Fox News hosts a simple message: "Let's be clear," he reportedly texted the network's Brian Kilmeade. "I resigned."
The president meanwhile held his latest “Keep America Great” rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Monday night, attacking the “America-hating left”, scaremongering about the release of “horrible, hardened criminals” in sanctuary cities and saying he rolled back energy efficiency standards for lightbulbs because: “I look better under incandescent light”. On another wild evening before a crowd of his most feverish supporters, Mr Trump also made a false claim about voter fraud in California and took sole credit for the US being awarded the 2026 FIFA World Cup and joked about serving a third term in order to be in office when the tournament gets underway.
During his year and a half at the White House, Mr Bolton had particular success in shaping the administration’s policies toward the United Nations and other international organizations, such as the International Criminal Court, as well as advocating for hardline measures on Venezuela and Cuba.
Mr Bolton had launched a broadside campaign against the International Criminal Court that resulted in the US revoking the visa of the court’s chief prosecutor after she sought permission to open an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by American troops and others in Afghanistan.
With the national security adviser on his team, Mr Trump announced the US was withdrawing from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, a position advocated by Mr Bolton.
The deal had been negotiated by the Obama administration to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions, and some in the administration favoured staying in the agreement.
His tenure in the White House was not without its many controversies, of course.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey refused to meet with Mr Bolton during his visit to Turkey to discuss US plans to withdraw troops from Syria in January.
The Turkish president was angered after Mr Bolton called for Turkish security assurances for the US-backed Kurdish forces as a condition for the withdrawal.
The president himself also appeared to undercut Mr Bolton’s public condemnation of missile tests by North Korea.
“North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me,” Mr Trump tweeted. “Some” of his “people” appeared to include Mr Bolton, who had told reporters just hours earlier that North Korean missile tests violated UN Security Council resolutions.
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The drop comes just as a US district judge issued a court order for a nationwide halt on enforcement of President Trump's controversial rule that would block asylum-seekers who come through Mexico on their way to the US. That policy was one of the tactics being used by the administration as it tried to stop the flow of migrants heading north in search of a better life.
Acting CBP chief Mark Morgan said that the drop to 64,000 arrests on the southern border is down to Trump's June agreement with Mexico on immigration, which saw the country deploying troops to the borders to try and help meet the US president's demands. Overall, the Trump administration has reported a 56 per cent decline since that deal was struck.
“We have been fighting and talking in a way that America often doesn’t do,” Pompeo told ABC’s This Week, after claiming the thousand killed. “It’s what’s driven us to be able to have the success at the negotiating table.”
Speaking to supporters in Fayetteville, North Carolina, ahead of a special election Republicans are desperate to win, Mr Trump urged people to turn out and vote for Dan Bishop, who he claimed would be tough on immigration and strong on creating jobs.
By contrast, he claimed Dan McCready, a moderate Democrat, supported sanctuary cities and open borders – claims that local media says were not borne out by the evidence.
