Articles By John Bolton: Europe

Why are Carr and Andrews legitimising China’s axis of authoritarianism?

In its typically authoritarian way, China (or, more accurately, its Communist Party) is commemorating the 80th anniversary of World War II’s end with a big military parade on September 3. The whole gang will be there to celebrate with Xi Jinping; Vladimir Putin and Kim Jung Un lead the...

Trump’s utterly incoherent Ukraine strategy

Donald Trump’s Ukraine policy today is no more coherent than it was last Friday when his administration executed search warrants against my home and office.  Collapsing in confusion, haste, and the absence of any discernible meeting of the minds among Ukraine, Russia, several European countries, and America, Trump’s negotiations...

A Bad Summit’s Silver Lining

Vladimir Putin led Russia out of international isolation on Friday, striding down a red carpet to greet an applauding Donald Trump. He accepted a ride with President Trump in “the Beast,” and one-on-one applied his KGB training to restart one of Moscow’s most effective influence operations ever. After the...

Trump is deluded if he thinks his meeting with Putin is cause for celebration

Friday’s Alaska summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is not shaping up well for Ukraine. Every indication is that Trump believes he and his (once again) good friend Putin will conjure some land swaps and bring peace. Of course, the land in question will be bits and pieces of Ukraine’s...

Will Trump Blow Up the National Security Council?

President Trump is reportedly considering(https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/rubio-working-major-changes-national-security-council-rcna206658) major alterations to the National Security Advisor’s role and the National Security Council staff.  One administration source said(https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/14/politics/rubio-national-security-council-overhaul) the “NSC as we know it is done.”  The potential changes center apparently on reducing the staff and its responsibility for developing and coordinating policy formulation,...

John Bolton: ‘The term chaos is commonly used to describe the top of the Defense Department’

The Signal chat group created by US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz to discuss imminent strikes targeting Houthi terrorists in Yemen in March ultimately cost him his job. Waltz’s misjudgment exposed the Trump administration to substantial domestic political criticism at a difficult time and shocked friends and allies of...

Putin certainly sees Trump as an easy mark

Judging a US president’s first hundred days began with Franklin Roosevelt.  For Donald Trump, however, certainly on national-security issues, comparison to Napoleon’s hundred-days campaign may be more apt, ending as it did in disaster for both the emperor and France. Trump’s indifference to Ukraine and his conciliatory approach toward...

What Next After Rome?

No one was more surprised than Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu when he learned of Donald Trump’s intention to reopen negotiations with Iran over its nuclear-weapons program.  At an April 7 meeting in Washington, Netanyahu almost certainly expected to move forward on plans for a potential Israeli strike against...

Europe could blow the west apart

Donald Trump has confirmed since 20th January that he is an aberration in American politics. That was clear in his first term, but many refused to acknowledge reality, fervently hoping his second term would be a legacy-building project. Their mistake was assuming that their definition of “legacy”—what normal political...

The Only Question Trump Asks Himself

Ukraine’s Volodomyr Zelensky is “a dictator without elections,” with only a four percent approval rating( https://www.newsweek.com/what-trump-has-said-about-zelensky-since-2022- 2039000 ). The war in Ukraine( https://apnews.com/article/trump-speech-congress-transcript- 751b5891a3265ff1e5c1409c391fef7c ) is “madness” and “senseless.” While it is true Russia is currently “pounding” Ukraine, “probably anyone in that position would be doing that right now(...




ABOUT JOHN BOLTON

Ambassador John Bolton, a diplomat and a lawyer, has spent many years in public service. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2005-2006. He was Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security from 2001 to 2005. In the Reagan Administration, he was an Assistant Attorney General.