President Donald Trump said Friday that he was not informed in advance about the FBI’s search of former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s home, telling reporters he first learned of the raid through television reports.
“No, I don’t know about it. I saw it on television this morning,” Trump said when asked if he had been notified ahead of the operation.
Related: FBI Storms John Bolton’s Home in Classified Documents Probe
A source confirmed that the investigation is focused on the handling of classified documents and national security materials.
Trump also offered a sharp critique of Bolton, who served as his national security adviser from 2018 to 2019. He described Bolton as someone who “wants to always kill people” and said he was “very bad at what he does,” though Trump acknowledged that Bolton’s reputation sometimes gave the United States leverage in foreign negotiations.
Asked if he expected to receive a briefing from the Department of Justice regarding the raid, Trump said, “Yeah, they’ll probably be briefing me sometime today.”
Bolton joined the Trump administration in 2018 but was dismissed in 2019 after disagreements on foreign policy issues, including Iran and North Korea. Since leaving the administration, the two have repeatedly criticized each other publicly, with Bolton publishing a memoir critical of Trump’s foreign policy and Trump dismissing Bolton as ineffective and disloyal.
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The tensions resurfaced last week when Bolton commented on a planned summit in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bolton suggested the meeting could weaken Ukraine and the Western alliance while giving Putin an advantage. Trump pushed back on his Truth Social account, calling Bolton a “fired loser” and dismissing his warning as unfair.
