President Trump “quits” John Bolton, his third National Security Adviser, over “strong disagreements”. Why does the President hire people who disagree with him and then fire them because they don’t agree with him? John Bolton’s ideology and reputation preceded him like a brass band, but a president who wants to extract us from foreign military engagements hired a well-known “hawk”. Is treating the White House like an episode of The Apprentice a valid leadership strategy? Candidate Trump touted himself as an expert leader who surrounds himself with great people. Why can’t President Trump build a loyal team?
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Trump Quits Bolton: Why Can’t the President Build a Team That Agrees with Him?
President Trump “quits” John Bolton, his third National Security Adviser, over “strong disagreements”. Why does the President hire people who disagree with him and then fire them because they don’t agree with him? John Bolton’s ideology and reputation preceded him like a brass band, but a president who wants to extract us from foreign military engagements hired a well-known “hawk”.
11 replies on “Trump Quits Bolton: Why Can’t the President Build a Team That Agrees with Him?”
Scott, you mentioned a number of Bolton positions where he would seem to be in tune with Trump. If he was fired for disagreeing, it was not over those readily apparent things. Afghanistan? Different story. Fire over one disagreement? I guess so. You hire people to be honest, but you also hire them to implement your policies. Fired? Quit? Who knows? Or cares? Trump is Trump.
Something not mentioned in this commentary is the number of people the president nominated for different positions who were then taken out by the press/smear merchants.
Knowing who you can and cannot trust is important in any organization, but walking into a presidency with hundreds of employees working to undermine you, would make the best of us a little paranoid. I agree with Michael and Ralph that disagreements with the boss are fine, but once a decision is made, it now becomes your job to see that the boss’s plan is successful.
From a book entitled The Pallisers; I must be my own treasurer because the accounts that I shall set agoing would frighten anyone less audacious.
That is what I think when Mr Trump tosses em in and out. He is unique and few there are who can keep up with or understand or implement. They aren’t audacious enough.
Good riddance to Bolton. Member of the Rothschild CFR and war monger for the Military Industrial Complex. Bolton is the very definition of “the swamp” He was probably whispering in Trumps ear, “nuke em…nuke em…nuke em.”
If Bolton could have kept his mouth shut in front of the media he would still be there. It is one thing to give alternate views to the president but quite a different thing to object openly after the decision by the president is made. Saying we should try the Gaddafi plan on North Korea when the president is in talks with the head of that nation is a huge problem. John Bolton was not honoring the president decisions. He was working against them.
This! It is all well and good to give the boss an alternate opinion and disagree with the boss; but when the boss makes a decision and points in a direction all need to go that way.
That said, I never understood the hiring of Bolton for the same reasons Scott noted. If the President’s plan was to negotiate with NK and Afghanistan, why hire Bolton?
Part of this is I do think the President is getting terrible advice from DC insiders on who to consider for the job. NSA needs to come from a relatively small group of people who understand what the job entails, none of whom are going to have any loyalty, or even like, the President.
Is Nikki Haley the next choice? Does Mike Pompeo move over from State and Haley goes to Sec State?
Scott seems to think that Trump doesn’t know how to act…as in play a part, fool people, etc. I assert he would not have become such a great TV star if he didn’t know how to act…and make it look like he was not acting. I don’t think anyone would say he’s not a ruthless businessman. Trump is in a life and death (sometimes quite literally for him) struggle with the Deep State and other swamp creatures. As dangerous as Kim and the Taliban are, they are nothing to Trumps real enemies.
We could argue all day about whether Trump hires people by mistake or purposely hires someone to do a job they didn’t know they were doing (or more like which hires were a mistake and which ones are being used). My feeling is, we don’t actually know who Trump trusts to advise him and who is just a paper tiger trotted out to flag this bull or that. From insiders, it seems Trump has people he genuinely depends upon (to do anything he asks, not just their own job) and he has his stuffed shirts. To me, Bolton was a stuffed shirt. And now the stuffed shirt has outlived his usefulness. Bye bye stuffed shirt.
Sometimes people are hired for the effect on competitors. When that effect has been made, they are let go.
Why can’t POTUS hire loyal people? What is Scott Ott pretending not to know? DC is a swamp. In fact it appears to be a monstrously poisoned well. From what I know and have read, the only real and abiding oath of office for many in DC is CYA. That’s not honorable. So we should blame President Trump, eh? I support him in part for fearlessly withstanding the treachery he sees all around him—every single day. For what it’s worth, that’s how I see it.
Agree Barbara, Scott, another point I think you are missing is that the people who are “Supporters of the President” who give him the benefit of most doubts are few, and I may be wrong but I can not think of any of them that have a platform in the MSM. I’m sure there are stats somewhere, but my perception is if you would assess MSM reporting of Trump I think you would find something like 90% negative 5% neutral and maybe 5% positive reporting. I would not even guess the numbers if you take FOX out of the mix. Does anyone think that is a “fair” assessment of President Trumps performance? Especially watching him being destroyed daily by lies and half truths being spun negative and spoon fed by the media (What was it, 2 1/2 years of Russian Collusion/Obstruction which was a completely manufactured charge by the deep state). I don’t think its a honesty issue as much as a completely broken Federal Government and media that may or may not get back on track.
Trump is acting as the CEO of US Inc. As circumstances change, the CEO needs subordinates who can deal with the changed circumstances.
By necessity, the top level advisers of the CEO will either adapt to the new circumstances or be replaced. THIS is a very good thing! If there can be no adaptation to new circumstances, it is ultimately fatal to the whole enterprise.
The solution to a problem depends upon the nature of the problem and its context. Some problems can be solved by hitting it with a hammer but most cannot. If your only solution is a bigger hammer, you WILL fail sooner than later.