Trump fears John Bolton will start a war — but hired him anyway as brief distraction from Stormy Daniels: report

An ally of President Donald Trump has made a shocking claim that the president was initially reluctant to pick John Bolton as his national security adviser -- but then he decided to go through with it anyway as a means to quiet down the Stormy Daniels story.

Talking with Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman, an unnamed "friend" of Trump said that the president felt the need to oust former national security adviser H.R. McMaster because he was tired of seeing wall-to-wall coverage of Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who alleges that she received $130,000 in hush money from Trump attorney Michael Cohen in exchange for staying silent about an affair she had with the president in 2006.

"Trump's still suggesting to people that Bolton is a war-party person," the source said. "He didn’t really want to pick Bolton, but he wanted to change headlines that weekend."

In fact, Trump announced his pick of Bolton as his new national security adviser on March 22 -- three days before the Daniels interview aired on CBS' "60 Minutes."

Even though Bolton has a reputation as an extreme war hawk, the Trump friend suggests to Sherman that we shouldn't be too concerned about him starting more wars, as he thinks Trump will grow tired of his new national security adviser very quickly.

"I think Trump gives him a short leash," he said.