John Bolton, Trump's former national security advisor, told Trump to "get out of the way" and said he was "not a conservative."
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
John Bolton, President Donald Trump's former national security advisor, described Trump's veto of the annual bill to fund the US military as "very destructive."
In a CNN interview on Wednesday, Bolton said he agreed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Trump's veto of the bipartisan bill was antithetical to the ideals of the Republican Party.
"Just to make a philosophical point, I think this is a very compelling piece of evidence why Donald Trump is not a conservative," Bolton said. "Nobody in the House or Senate, Republican or Democrat, likes every provision of this bill. But for 59 straight years, our parties have compromised their differences to give clear policy direction on defense for the full year.
"And what Trump's veto does here, potentially, is put that in jeopardy at a time when we're suffering from one of the worst computer attacks in our history, when we see threats all around the world continuing to grow from China and elsewhere," Bolton added.
Trump on Wednesday vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act, which would allocate $741 billion for US national security. Both chambers of Congress had passed the bill with broad support from Republicans and Democrats.
The Democratic-controlled House passed it 335-78, exceeding the two-thirds majority needed to slap down Trump's veto. The Republican-majority Senate also passed the defense bill 84-13.
US Air Force/Ty Greenlees
Aside from the continued funding for the US military, the bill includes substantive changes to overseas troop deployments and a 3% pay raise for service members.
Trump had previously threatened to veto the bill for including a provision to rename military bases that still bear the names of Confederate leaders. He also said it was not tough enough on China and Russia.
"Unfortunately, the Act fails to include critical national security measures, includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military's history, and contradicts efforts by my Administration to put America first in our national security and foreign policy actions," Trump said in a statement. "It is a 'gift' to China and Russia."
Bolton described Trump's veto as a "selfish" and "purely gratuitous action."
"He's Donald Trump, and this is part of the problem," Bolton said on CNN. "This is all about Donald Trump."
Bolton added that he'd tell Trump: "There's very little you can do to repair your reputation. But for God's sakes, get out of the way of the national security of the United States, and get out of the way of our efforts to overcome the coronavirus pandemic."
Bolton has been critical of Trump since he resigned in 2019. He wrote a memoir, "The Room Where It Happened," that provides unflattering details of Trump's tenure in the White House.
Trump, in turn, has also disparaged Bolton.
"Wacko John Bolton's 'exceedingly tedious' (New York Times) book is made up of lies & fake stories," Trump said in a tweet in June. "Said all good about me, in print, until the day I fired him. A disgruntled boring fool who only wanted to go to war. Never had a clue, was ostracized & happily dumped. What a dope!"
