Former national security advisor John Bolton appeared on Newsmax and sparred with Rob Schmitt over former President Donald Trump being tough on Russia. During a segment on “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” the host labeled off a list of how Trump handled the Eastern European country.
“I’m surprised that you don’t think [Trump] would have handled this better than Joe Biden,” Schmitt told Bolton. The former advisor went on to say the Trump “did not” take a tough stance against Russia.
Bolton went on to say that when the administration sanctioned Russian oligarchs for selling S-400 missile systems to other countries, “in almost every case, the sanctions were imposed with Trump complaining about it and saying we were being too hard [on Russia].”
“The fact is that he barely knew where Ukraine was,” Bolton added. He also went on to share a story that the former president once asked his chief of staff, John Kelly, “if Finland were a part of Russia.”
“It’s just not accurate to say that Trump deterred the Russians. I think the evidence is that Russia didn’t feel that their military was ready,” Bolton said.
Schmitt then tried to state that Trump deserved credit for warning European leaders regarding the risks of depending on Russia for gas and oil. “He talked about that before [anyone else]; nobody was talking about that at the time,” Schmitt said.
“You’re absolutely wrong!” Bolton fired back, correcting the Newsmax host that former president Ronald Reagan was the first to give that caution.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
