5:36President Donald Trump greets South Korean President Moon Jae-In in the Oval Office of the White House, May 22, 2018, in Washington, as national-security adviser John Bolton looks on.Evan Vucci/AP
While FBI agents on Friday combed the residence and workplace of John Bolton, once a leading presidential counselor, Donald Trump didn’t mince words, telling the press: “I’m not a supporter of John Bolton. He’s truly a grade-A lowlife.”
At the same moment, Trump insisted he had received no advance notice of the raids, which sources told ABC News concern claims that Bolton possesses sensitive government documents.
“Honestly, I always viewed him as a real sleazebag,” Trump remarked from the Oval Office when reporters pressed him. “He’s got a major case of Trump derangement syndrome, as do plenty of others yet nothing we’re doing touches them. I’m completely in the dark; I only just saw the news and I’ll get briefed.”
The episode marks merely the newest chapter in Trump and Bolton’s turbulent rapport, one dating back years and erupting as recently as this month over Bolton’s condemnation of Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Bolton left the initial Trump administration in 2019 after festering friction with the president. Bolton claimed at the time that he tendered his resignation; Trump countered that he had dismissed his national-security adviser.
President Donald Trump greets South Korean President Moon Jae-In in the Oval Office of the White House, May 22, 2018, in Washington, as national-security adviser John Bolton looks on.Evan Vucci/AP
The following year, the Trump team sued to stop Bolton from releasing a firsthand White House memoir, arguing the manuscript still held classified material that could jeopardize national security. A federal judge refused the administration’s bid to halt publication, yet the White House pressed ahead with a civil suit seeking the book’s profits.
The prior administration also opened a criminal probe into whether Bolton improperly retained classified data. In June 2021, the Biden administration announced it had shuttered both the investigation and the civil litigation.
In the revealing volume, Bolton portrayed Trump as “staggeringly ill-informed” and readily malleable in the hands of foreign foes.
During an exclusive interview with ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz coinciding with the book debut, Bolton remarked of Trump, “I believe he’s unfit for the presidency. He simply lacks the aptitude required for the position.”
Upon returning to the White House this January, Trump stripped Bolton of his security clearance and ended his security protection—even as threats against Bolton from Iran tied to his previous tenure persisted.
Explaining the move, Trump told reporters then, “I feel the period has been sufficient. Someone takes a post, finishes the post, and you move on—lifelong security detail isn’t realistic.” He further labeled Bolton “an extremely unintelligent individual.”
President Donald Trump addresses an audience at The People’s House museum, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington.Evan Vucci/AP
More recently, Bolton and Trump traded barbs over Bolton’s objections to Trump’s move to host Putin on U.S. soil for talks on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Bolton told ABC’s “This Week” on Aug. 10 that Trump had “erred” in extending the Alaska invitation to Putin and questioned his overall peace-negotiation tactics. Trump shot back on social media, blasting what he called “biased press” coverage of the summit that “keeps citing fired losers and total idiots like John Bolton.”
During that same “This Week” interview, Bolton was asked about assertions that Trump engages in retaliatory actions and whether he feared becoming a target.
Bolton replied, “I view it as a vengeance presidency.”
Vice President JD Vance, in a one-on-one with NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” asserted Friday’s FBI raid on Bolton’s premises was not politically driven.
“We’re still in the opening phase of a continuing probe into John Bolton,” Vance said. “We plan to let it unfold on its merits. What I can promise is this: contrary to the Biden-era DOJ and FBI, our agencies will follow the law—not politics.”
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
