John Bolton Reportedly Trash-Talked Donald Trump During Private Manhattan Luncheon

Former national security adviser John Bolton reportedly had a lot to get off his chest during a luncheon in front of a group of Gatestone donors at an exclusive Manhattan lunch spot on Wednesday. Gatestone is the conservative think tank which Bolton used to head.

Politico reported that Bolton apparently told the group of 60 donors that he wasn’t happy with his former boss, President Donald Trump, inviting the Taliban to Camp David for peace talks. He labeled the move as “disrespectful” and a “terrible signal” giving the timing of the invitation around September 11, due to the fact that Taliban forces provided shelter to Al-Qaeda terrorists.

Bolton also touched on Trump’s current stance on North Korea and Iran, explaining to the group that those countries only care about talking their way out of harsh financial sanctions leveled against them by the Trump administration.

Two of the lunch attendees reported that Bolton said any negotiations with those two countries are “doomed for failure.”

“He ripped Trump, without using his name, several times,” one of the lunch attendees told Politico.

Doubling down, Bolton — a known war hawk — blasted Trump for not taking stronger action against Iran earlier in the summer after several incidents, including the seizing of several oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and the shoot-down of a U.S. drone. He revealed that the White House was prepared to launch a retaliatory strike at the time — a move that Bolton backed, but said that the widely agreed-upon plan was ditched by “a high authority, at the very last minute.”

Bolton explained that the lack of action against Iran, especially after the U.S. drone was shot down, has led to more aggressive behavior, including the alleged recent attack carried out against a major Saudi Arabian state-run oil facility that disrupted 5 percent of the world’s oil supply.

The former national security adviser called Iran’s alleged action against Saudi Arabia a clear “act of war.”

Bolton’s anti-Trump policy rant came on the same day the president formally announced Bolton’s replacement, Robert C. O’Brien. According to The Inquisitr, O’Brien worked on a program under President Bush and President Obama that bolstered the legal infrastructure in Afghanistan.

In a Wednesday tweet, the president praised his new pick’s background and predicted that he would do a great job.

“I am pleased to announce that I will name Robert C. O’Brien, currently serving as the very successful Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs at the State Department, as our new National Security Advisor. I have worked long & hard with Robert. He will do a great job!” Trump tweeted.