President Donald Trump has fired National Security Advisor Ambassador John Bolton, the president tweeted on Tuesday.
“I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House,” the president tweeted.
“I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week.”
Bolton, who had been scheduled to participate in a White House briefing later on Tuesday, texted reporters that he had resigned and was not fired. He also tweeted his own version of events shortly after the president’s announcement.
“I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, ‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow,'” Bolton tweeted.
A staunch neo-conservative who advocated invading Iraq in 2003, Bolton was Trump’s third national security advisor. He succeeded retired Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who resigned in March 2018, and retired Army Lt. Gen, Michael Flynn, who only lasted 24 days before quitting over his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
Bolton also reportedly tried to undermine former Defense Secretary James Mattis and more recently he and the president reportedly disagreed about efforts to reach a peace agreement with the Taliban.
While Trump has not yet elaborated on his disagreements with Bolton, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters on Tuesday, “The president’s view of the Iraq war and Ambassador Bolton’s are very different.”
UPDATE: This story was updated on Sept. 10 with comments from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.