Trump slams John Bolton as 'one of the dumbest people in Washington' after the former ally discussed NYT martial law report
- President Donald Trump on Sunday blasted his former national security advisor, John Bolton, after he was critical of the president over a report in The New York Times that he was considering martial law to overturn the results of the presidential election.
- "What would Bolton, one of the dumbest people in Washington, know?" Trump tweeted.
- Bolton, reacting to the Times report of former national security advisor Michael Flynn suggesting that Trump utilize the military to "rerun" the presidential election, called such an action "appalling."
President Donald Trump on Sunday lambasted his former national security advisor, John Bolton after the onetime ally publicly criticized the president over a report in The New York Times that he was considering martial law to overturn the results of the presidential election.
Shortly after midnight, Trump went after Bolton, slamming his intelligence and previous foreign policy decisions.
"What would Bolton, one of the dumbest people in Washington, know?," Trump wrote. "Wasn't he the person who so stupidly said, on television, 'Libyan solution', when describing what the U.S. was going to do for North Korea. I've got plenty of other Bolton 'stupid stories.'"
On Saturday, Bolton, reacting to the Times report of former national security advisor Michael Flynn suggesting that Trump declare martial law and utilize the military to "rerun" the presidential election, called such an action "appalling."
"There's no other way to describe it," Bolton said on CNN. "It's unbelievable [and] almost certainly without precedent, but I think it's important to understand this is just another day at the office, at the Oval ... He's unfit for the job. I don't think he's ever read the Constitution. If he has, he clearly didn't understand it, and if he did understand it at one point, he's forgotten it."
Trump disputed the Times report on Twitter, describing the publication's details of the meeting as "fake."
"Martial law = Fake News," Trump wrote. "Just more knowingly bad reporting!"
The Times reported that several top advisors, including White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, were cool to Flynn's proposal. The advisors were also resistant to the president naming attorney Sidney Powell as a special counsel to uncover alleged voting fraud, which she failed to do as a former member of Trump's legal team.
Trump, who earlier this year tried to block the release of Bolton's book, "The Room Where It Happened," with claims it contained classified information not vetted for release, has been highly critical of his former advisor.
Bolton has reciprocated the sentiment in the media. Last month on CNN, Bolton called Trump "the political equivalent of a street rioter," accusing him of trying to cause "damage" within government before President-elect Joe Biden's January 2021 inauguration.