'Tripping over his shoelaces': John Bolton explains how Trump can be beaten

There may not be another Trump presidency if contenders against him take the fight to him. But if he wins the nomination and bests President Joe Biden, there are enough protections to ward off authoritarian rule.

Trump's former National Security Advisor John Bolton appearing on CNN's "The Source" with Kaitlan Collins made it clear that he has "faith in constitutional structures" and even said that "they're strong."

So strong that they will likely come out on top of Trump's bid.

"It will be a tremendous battle," Bolton conceded, but he believes "Trump and his acolytes will be defeated."

He suggested that other candidates beyond former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson need to take on the former president more often rather than throw daggers at each other.

However, if Trump somehow can find his way to occupy the White House for a second term, he may be emboldened and learned how the government works, but so have other branches and the personnel.

"Others have learned how he will try and manipulate the Justice Department and we will see how it goes," said Bolton. "We will see how many of his nominees get confirmed. We will see how he deals not just with a few people being in acting positions in a place like Justice or the Defense Department but with everybody being in active positions — I think he could be tripping over his own shoelaces in fairly short order, if people keep their eye on the ball."

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Bolton maintains: "Trump can't just snap his fingers and expect things to happen," he said.

In fact, he foresees if he was back running the country and tried to will his whims that it would cause a "constitutional crisis" and there would be a massive exodus.

"When he tells appointees — even his own appointees — to do things that are illegal and unconstitutional, how many of them resign?"" he asked.

"And then how many career people in the Justice Department and the military start resigning below him? This is the kind of thing that will cause enormous turmoil in the country, but it's part of the process to keep Donald Trump under control."