White House officials interfere with Donald Trump’s legacy at their peril

Analysis: The hawkish John Bolton will not be missed by many, but his being fired points to some of the president’s larger aims, writes Chris Stevenson

Donald Trump clashed repeatedly with his top security aide John Bolton (AP)

I’m never surprised – that was the phrase Mike Pompeo used when asked about John Bolton’s ousting by Donald Trump at a briefing that Bolton, until a couple of hours before, had himself been due to attend.

And we shouldn’t be. The fact that the White House has essentially had a revolving door attached during the latest administration is long documented and Trump-Bolton was always a marriage of convenience (and the president would decide when he had become inconvenienced). Bolton was pro-war, for a president that has built a platform on pulling the US out of conflict and also has little interest in the details of foreign policy.

Trying to spot the connection between Trump’s choices for national security adviser is difficult. Michael Flynn was essentially a loyalist from the 2016 campaign who had little time to get his feet under the table, HR McMaster was the choice to appease the Republican establishment and a very different character, while Trump just seemed to like Bolton’s antagonistic streak. It smacks of a president tackling policy on the hoof.