President Donald Trump said he learned the FBI raided former national security adviser John Bolton’s home from television Friday morning and remarked that Bolton “could be a very unpatriotic guy.”
Trump’s comments came during a press gaggle at the People’s House gift shop adjacent to the White House.
“No, I don’t know about it. I saw it on television this morning,” he said when asked if he was briefed on the raid as part of a classified documents investigation. “I’m not a fan of John Bolton. He’s a real sort of a low life.”
Trump went on to say that Bolton “could be a very unpatriotic guy — we’re going to find out.”
While he had not been briefed on the matter at the time of the gaggle, Trump said he expects the Department of Justice will likely brief him at some point today and emphasized that Attorney General Pam Bondi and the department are leading the charge on the investigation.
“I tell Pam, and I tell the group, ‘I don’t want to know about it, just you have to do what you have to do. I don’t want to know about it. It’s not necessary,’” Trump said. “I could know about it, I could be the one starting it; I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer, but I feel that it’s better this way.”
Bolton served as national security adviser for a time during the first Trump administration, beginning in March 2018. Trump said Friday that Bolton was helpful in the role in that his warhawkish worldview would be of benefit when he was present during negotiations with foreign leaders.
“He really doesn’t talk, he’s quiet–and I’d walk into a room with him, with a foreign country, the foreign country would give me everything because they said, oh no, they’re going to get blown up because John Bolton was there,” Trump said. “He’s not a smart guy.”
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