Trump's Former National Security Chief Says Ex-President Did 'Enormous Damage' To US, Republican Party

Donald Trump's National Security Adviser, John Bolton, said the former president did ‘enormous damage’ to the country and the Republican party during his time at the White House. 

What Happened: Bolton, in an interview on CNN, said he would not sign the Republican National Committee's pledge to back the party's ultimate nominee if Trump were to be the GOP candidate for the U.S. presidential election in 2024. 

"No, I wouldn't sign that pledge. I am not going to support Donald Trump. This is not a matter of party loyalty. I think he did enormous damage to the country and certainly to the Republican party in the four years he served. All that is repairable, and I think it is being repaired, but four more years of Donald Trump could do significant permanent damage to the country and the Republican party."

Bolton said he is also "thinking" of joining the already crowded field of Republican primaries, which has Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott, among others fighting to be the Republican nominee. 

The former Trump advisor also suggested that all the Republican primary candidates should focus on cornering the former president rather than taking jibes at each other. "I think everybody who is in this race now should not spend their time picking away at each other they gotta convince Republican primary voters that the job one here is to prevent Trump from being nominated," he added. 

Why It Matters: As the competition for the Republican nomination intensifies, the former Trump ally Bolton has hurled a series of accusations at the ex-president. Bolton, who is known to have been instrumental in organizing two meetings between the U.S. and North Korea under Trump's presidency, last month said Chinese leader Xi Jinping, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and Russian President Vladimir Putin used to think Trump was a "laughing fool."