Former National Security Adviser John Bolton is pointing to who he thinks is the second most powerful person in the Trump administration.
The “second-most powerful man” Bolton is naming is not too far from the president, as it is President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, senior advisor to the President of the United States Jared Kushner.
During an interview on the “Fox News Rundown” podcast Thursday, Bolton was asked his thoughts on Kushner and what influence Kushner has in the administration.
“He’s the second most powerful man in the White House,” Bolton responded.
He added, “I think he has enormous influence and access to the president.”
The former national security adviser continued:
“And I think it’s been demonstrated in the foreign policy field, the domestic policy field, a whole host of things. Sentencing reform was a big priority, although the Republican Party was itself deeply divided over that. In addition to working on the Middle East peace plan — ‘the deal of the century,’ as the president called it — being involved in the China trade negotiations, the NAFTA negotiations.”
“He’s been involved in a range of things that I don’t think is equaled by anybody else in the president’s roles of advisers or cabinet members,” Bolton said.
Listen to Bolton’s remarks below:
Bolton was also asked about the reports of Russian bounties on U.S. troops, and that the White House said Trump was not initially briefed on the issue. The White House has said since the president was briefed this week.
However, Bolton said that he will not comment on the reporting that “he briefed [Trump] a year ago” on it, as host Jessica Rosenthal noted.
“Given what the administration has tried to say about the book, I’m just not gonna give them another target,” he added.
“I will say that if the reports about the current intelligence are true — and the White House has essentially admitted the intelligence is there — but if those reports are true, I find this very, very serious […] this is a dramatic turn for the Russians and their behavior in Afghanistan. So I think it’s important to take it seriously.”
The former national security adviser’s remarks on the podcast come shortly after his book, “The Room Where It Happened,” was released and has since sold over 780,000 copies, as of Wednesday, CNN reported.
