'Saving face': John Bolton reveals what’s really behind Trump’s deepening policy crisis

U.S. President Donald Trump was in Canada for the G7 Summit when he decided to cut his trip short, reportedly because of the deepening conflict between Israel and Iran. Israeli forces have been firing missiles at Tehran, while Iranian forces have been firing missiles at Tel Aviv — and foreign policy experts fear that the conflict could escalate to other countries in the Middle East.

The Israel/Iran conflict is exposing tensions within Trump's coalition. While Mark Levin and others at Fox News calling for the U.S. to attack Iran militarily, some of Trump's ultra-MAGA allies — including "War Room" host Steve Bannon and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) — are vehemently opposed to that and urging Trump to take a non-interventionist approach.

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton discussed the conflict and how Trump might respond to it during an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel published in the Q&A format on June 20.

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Bolton told Der Spiegel reporters Nicola Abé und Maximilian Popp, "It's now a matter of saving face and presenting himself as a key player. Trump knows that he plays a central role as U.S. president. He could send B-2 stealth bombers and bomb the underground facilities of Iran's nuclear program with bunker-busting bombs."

When Der Spiegel mentioned that Trump, during the United States' 2024 presidential race, "promised to keep the U.S. out of further wars in the Middle East," Bolton — known for being a very hawkish neocon — responded, "He would still prefer a deal. But above all, he wants to get back in front of the wave. It annoys him immensely that he is not currently leading the action. That is probably why he left the G-7 Summit in Canada so abruptly."

Der Spiegel also asked Bolton to weigh in on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's motivations for attacking Iran at this time.

The publication asked Bolton, "Is Netanyahu only concerned with the nuclear program, or is he interested in overthrowing the government in Tehran?" — to which he responded, "Netanyahu sees an opportunity for a change of power, because the Islamic Republic is weaker than it has ever been since its founding in 1979. Israel has reorganized the Middle East since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, and has inflicted one defeat after another on Iran and its allies."

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Read Der Spiegel's full interview with John Bolton at this link.