Bolton says not to mistake ‘discretion for weakness’ as Trump reveals how he confronted his generals over casualties and called off retaliatory strikes
National Security Advisor John Bolton said Donald Trump’s caution in Iran should not be mistaken for U.S. weakness.
‘Neither Iran nor any other hostile actor should mistake U.S. prudence and discretion for weakness,’ Bolton said during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Israel on Sunday.
‘No one has granted them a hunting license in the Middle East,’ he said of Iran.
Bolton has repeatedly called for regime change in Tehran.
President Trump told NBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview aired Sunday morning that he didn’t approve the retaliatory attack against Iran after they shot down an unmanned drone this week because it was not a corresponding response.
National Security Advisor John Bolton said ‘U.S. prudence and discretion’ should not be mistaken by Iran and other Middle Eastern countries for weakness
Trump did not approve a retaliatory response after Iran shot down an unmanned U.S. drone this week
‘I didn’t like it. I didn’t think it was, I didn’t think it was proportionate,’ Trump said he thought when a U.S. General told him the attack could have resulted in 150 deaths in Iran.
The president conceded the U.S. response may have been different if there were people in the craft that was shot down.
Bolton has been described as a ‘hawk’ by Trump and others on multiple issues, including foreign affairs and immigration.
‘I have some hawks. Yeah, John Bolton is absolutely a hawk,’ Trump said during his interview with NBC. ‘If it was up to him he’d take on the whole world at one time, okay?’
The president told NBC in an interview that aired Sunday that he did not think it was a ‘proportionate’ response to kill 150 people. He also described Bolton as a ‘hawk’
‘If it was up to him he’d take on the whole world at one time, okay?’ Trump said of Bolton
Trump has described some of his aides as a dove, and others as a hawk – and the president is being more dove-ish on Iran compared to his advisers.
The president has been hesitant to raise tensions in the region, even after the U.S. intelligence community confirmed Iran was behind two oil tanker attacks on the Gulf of Oman last week.
The Middle Eastern nation also announced that within the coming days it would be breaching its limit on enriched uranium set by the multi-nation nuclear deal in 2015.
Trump pulled the U.S. out of the nuclear deal last year, claiming it was not in the country’s best interest.
‘As President Trump said on Friday, our military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go — by far the best in the world,’ Bolton said. ‘Sanctions are biting, and more were added last night. Iran can never have nuclear weapons, not against the USA, not against the world.’