A disaster

Jimmy Carter: Bolton appointment 'a disaster for our country'

By CRISTIANO LIMA

Former President Jimmy Carter on Monday called President Donald Trump’s decision to select John Bolton as his national security adviser “one of the worst mistakes” of his young presidency, casting the former ambassador’s views on foreign policy matters as disastrous for the U.S.

“I think John Bolton is a disaster for our country,” Carter told “CBS This Morning” in an interview set to air in full on Tuesday. “Maybe one of the worst mistakes that President Trump has made since he’s been in office is the employment of John Bolton, who has been advocating a war with North Korea for a long time and even an attack on Iran.”

Carter said he was “very much distressed” by Trump’s plan to replace H.R. McMaster, a three-star Army general, with Bolton atop the National Security Council.

Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, is a controversial pick for the post, having staunchly advocated for the Iraq War and called for the bombing of Iran.

The former president told CBS he worried that Bolton’s hawkish instincts would have a “deleterious” influence on Trump. Carter also expressed unease over the string of high-profile departures in the Trump administration, characterizing the president’s personnel decisions as an effort to add more like-minded voices to the White House.

“I am concerned, as a matter of fact, about his deliberate moves to get into the key positions of government just people who agree with him,” Carter said. “Access to different opinions before you make a final decision is very valuable, and in the last few days I think President Trump’s choice of close advisers, powerful advisers, have gone to unanimity rather than diversity.”

Trump announced on Twitter on Thursday that Bolton would replace McMaster as national security adviser effective April 9.

Trump’s presidency has been marked by numerous prominent staffing departures, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, top economic adviser Gary Cohn and White House communications director Hope Hicks in just the past several weeks.

Trump and top administration officials have recently weighed dismissing Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

The White House principal deputy press secretary, Raj Shah, on Monday declined to comment on reports of other imminent departures in the Trump administration, adding that he had no personnel announcements.