A former Trump administration official was baffled on Sunday as President Donald Trump's strategy to end the war in Iran backfired.
Last week, Trump dispatched Vice President JD Vance to Pakistan to negotiate an end to the war, but Vance returned to the U.S. empty-handed. John Bolton, Trump's national security advisor during his first administration, said on CNN's "CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield" that this strategy has given the Iranians "enormous leverage" in the negotiations, and that Trump may be making it worse by sending more high-level officials next week.
"You shouldn't send the Vice President," Bolton said. "He's one levelbelow the President. We don'tknow that the people theIranians are sending have anyauthority to commit theirgovernment to begin with. If we were going to send a high-level official, it should have been the Secretary of State, not the Vice President, and not civilian volunteers, such as Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Bolton added that Trump's deployment of high-level officials signals to the Iranians that he wants to find a way out of the conflict.
"I think they smell panic inthe White House," he said. "I think theycan see Trump wants out of this.He's just he's broadcasting italmost every day. And it givesthe Iranians enormous leverage."