On Tuesday, John Bolton, Trump’s third National Security Adviser, quit his post. While Trump said he fired Bolton, Bolton said he resigned. Whatever the case, Bolton was ousted after fundamental disputes with President Trump over how to handle foreign policy challenges like Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea. Brett Samuels and Olivia Beavers reported this news in The Hill pointing out five takeaways from Bolton’s exit.

Bolton was known to be a hawk and had very diverging views from Trump and most of the other members of cabinet over key foreign policy, notably relating to America’s historic foes. He was little less of a fall guy and was known to take clear positions against any softness towards America’s enemies. For example, he was against the presence of the Taliban on US soil. As such, Samuels and Beavers have argued that Bolton’s exit is a recipe for more Trump chaos with no such personality around to put the President’s impulses in check.

The authors also contend that Bolton’s exit further crystallizes Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s influence with the president; puts an end to a strange marriage; reignites GOP explaining again, and; expands the pool of Trump critics. In effect Samuels and Beavers stated that Bolton may not go quietly. They predict that if “Trump expands his criticism of Bolton in the coming days or weeks, the former national security adviser could push back with criticisms or explanations of his differences with the president, creating yet another headache for the White House as it seeks to keep attention on its agenda.”

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