John Bolton: State Department Needs Revolution, Appointments Are Political

2025-01-28 10:12:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Journalist Robert Papa conducted an interview with Donald Trump's former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, where they talked about President Trump's latest decision.

Bolton has stated that the State Department needs a Revolution and that 4 years is not enough for reforms.

The former Trump advisor pointed out that the State Department has more political appointments as many ambassadors are political appointees.

Full interview.

Robert Papa: Ambassador, what's going on? Trump has removed your Secret Service protection. Why?

Ambassador John Bolton: Terrible, really.

Robert Papa: Not just to you, but also to Mike Pompeo.

Ambassador John Bolton: I know.

Robert Papa: Is it a signal to all those who will work for it?

Ambassador John Bolton: I don't know, it's not good news.

Robert Papa: Do you think he really wants to withdraw from NATO, why is he asking for 5% of GDP and this is unachievable?

Ambassador John Bolton: It's interesting that he chose 5%, which is what military spending was during the Reagan era. For America, it's a realistic target, given the threats we face around the world. But the demand on NATO countries shows the illusion that people thought Europe was going 2% and everything was going great. It goes beyond any prediction that any defense minister has made, with the exception of Poland and the Baltic countries. So now there's another reason to leave NATO. It's very interesting. All the governments of NATO countries need to take this seriously. Understand that it's in their interest, not America's. And it's in Trump's interest not to withdraw from NATO.

Robert Papa: It was attempted in Brussels, in 2018. Were you, Pompeo, and Keith Kellogg, the envoy for Ukraine today?

Ambassador John Bolton: It wasn't Keith Kellogg at that meeting, it was Secretary Mattis. Keith Kellogg has long been negative about NATO. I see no reason for Keith to change direction in this administration. People have a hard time believing that any American president would ever try to leave NATO. Very hard to believe, except with Trump.

Robert Papa: It's great that we have Rubio, he supports NATO. Does he have enough power to face Trump?

Ambassador John Bolton: After the vote for Hegveth, we will see the cooperation with Waltz. Will they give the real opinion or will they be jesmene? Unfortunately, this is what Trump wants, not loyalty, but humility.

Robert Papa: What will happen with Kosovo ambassador? We have Grenell who could also become envoy for Kosovo, can we go back to land swaps?

Ambassador John Bolton: In the first term, there was an effort, I participated, to figure out how to resolve this for the sake of stability in the Balkans. It needs to be resolved because it is an obstacle to progress. Will Grenell be involved? I don't know, but he flew with Trump to California to see the damage from the fires. He is from California, maybe he is the Special Envoy for California. So that is his priority. It is difficult to know where else he will focus. From his experience, I would be surprised if he did not get involved in Kosovo. Trump's primary focus in the European theater will be the war in Ukraine. The things he has said are contradictory. I am not worried about any possibility in Ukraine, but I am concerned about the power that Putin has over Trump. And this will be to the disadvantage of Ukraine. Melania also influences Trump for the former Yugoslavia.

Robert Papa: Are Grenell and Kushner important to Trump's ears? Does Trump listen to them or not? Both are involved, in dirty ways financially, in Serbia and Albania. They say "we can do whatever we want."

Biolton: For Kushner, everything is about making money. So transactional as it always is for Trump. All about money. Trump listens to him, there's no doubt about it. How much he listens to Grenell, I don't know. In 2016, a reporter asked Rudy Julian if Trump listens to him? He said yes only 20% of the time.

Robert Papa. What is a Special Envoy? Does he report to Rubio, or will he have an office in the West Wing? Or an office in the State Department?

Ambassador John Bolton: No one knows for sure, there's speculation, but he and Kellogg will have an office in the Executive Building near the White House, but also an office in the Department. Where they will report to is unclear. Rubio is in a difficult position. Trump has created a lot of positions that didn't exist before. It's not clear whether he consulted with Rubio beforehand, and Rubio will have a very difficult time overseeing all of them.

Robert Papa: He's asking for Schedule F1, to have more political appointments. The department only has 200 political appointments, can it go with more than that?

Ambassador Bolton: The State Department has more political appointments than many ambassadors have political appointments. The Department has 70,000 people and 200-250 are political appointments. A small number, most of them in Washington. The bureaucracy of the Department, I have said it before, requires a revolution in its culture to adapt to the new administration. Rubio understands this, having been in the Senate for 14 years on the Foreign Relations Committee. The test for Rubio as a manager is whether he can do it. It will be difficult and reforms must be made. It will not happen in 4 years, it will take more time than that.

Robert Papa: Melania was at the inauguration. Does it affect the countries of the former Yugoslavia?

Ambassador Bolton: Coming from the former Yugoslavia, she has influence because she is not close to those areas. I have not heard her express her political opinion. We do not know what she says to Trump, but Melania is influential.

Robert Papa: China and Russia are furious with Trump. Is it a sign that Trump is doing something right?

Ambassador Bolton: The first thing is the relationship with Putin, and Putin is open to a phone call. I wonder why he hasn't taken the initiative, but he's not going to give anything away easily.

JD Vance was clear about a demilitarized zone and Ukraine agreeing not to join NATO, this is a victory for Russia.

Xi Jinping is in a better position, Trump says he will go to Beijing to receive him at a big communist party. Trump changed 180 degrees on TikTok, a few years ago he was against it, now he will save it. Music to the ears of the Chinese.

Robert Papa: Have you been deeply involved in the talks about Greenland and do you believe it will become part of America?

Ambassador John Bolton: Yes, in 2019, deeply involved. America has strong security interests there. We want to keep the Chinese and the Russians out. Greenland is closer to America than it is to Denmark, closer to Washington than to Copenhagen. We wanted to buy it in 1867, the same year we bought Alaska from Russia. We bought it, but the Senate never ratified the treaty. In World War II, Roosevelt sent Marines to Greenland to protect military ships in the North Atlantic.

No one should underestimate how important Greenland is. I would be happy to have full sovereignty, but it is not possible and there are other ways. To protect American security. We can take it as a Commonwealth. But we have to treat them with respect. To the local government and to Denmark.

Speaking openly because we put those democratically elected governments in a difficult position.

We don't want a void in the Northern Arctic, divided by Russia, Denmark and Norway./ CNA