'Perilously wrong': Ex-Trump ally buries former boss for belief he has sway over dictators

When John Bolton joined the Trump administration as national security adviser in 2018, he thought the responsibilities of the highest government job in the land would tame then-President Donald Trump. In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal Wednesday, he admits he was wrong.

"Mr. Trump’s only consistent focus is on himself. He invariably equated good personal relations with foreign leaders to good relations between countries. Personal relations are important, but the notion that they sway Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and their ilk is perilously wrong," Bolton writes.

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According to Bolton, Trump's most dangerous legacy "is the spread of the isolationist virus in the Republican Party," adding that if isolationism becomes the dominant view among Republicans, "America is in deep trouble."

"The most immediate crisis involves Ukraine. Barack Obama’s limp-wristed response to Moscow’s 2014 aggression contributed substantially to Mr. Putin’s 2022 attack. But Mr. Trump’s conduct was also a factor. He accused Ukraine of colluding with Democrats against him in 2016 and demanded answers," Bolton continued.

"No answers were forthcoming, since none existed. President Biden’s aid to Ukraine has been piecemeal and nonstrategic, but it is almost inevitable that a second-term Trump policy on Ukraine would favor Moscow."

Bolton predicts that another Trump term will bring "erratic policy and uncertain leadership" that China and Russia would be happy to exploit.

Read the full op-ed over at The Wall Street Journal.