A lack of security clearance didn’t stop a former U.S. official from spouting off on negotiations in Iran, including his hopes to see them “break down” as “self-defense strikes” continued.
(Video Credit: CNN)
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump offered glimpses at ongoing negotiation efforts in the Middle East that included his hopes to expand the Abraham Accords and officially put a stop to Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons capabilities. Rather than voice support for a path toward peace, former National Security Advisor John Bolton pushed for a “day of reckoning” as he suggested the president was continually providing a “gift to Iran.”
Appearing on CNN’s “The Lead” with the network’s chief investigative correspondent Pamela Brown, Bolton was asked, “Are you feeling optimistic about this memorandum, given that we’ve seen negotiations break down before when it comes to the finer points of Iran’s nuclear program?”
“Well, I hope the negotiations break down,” he replied bluntly, “because every day that goes by is a gift to Iran.”
“It gives them 24 more hours to recover from the pummeling they took during the six weeks of U.S.-Israeli attack. It gives them time to try and reconstitute their government, which increasingly looks dysfunctional in decision-making capability,” Bolton went on. “And it postpones the day of reckoning, ultimately, when the threat that they pose to control over the Strait of Hormuz is resolved in a way that they never come back and do it again.”
The former official added before claiming the president’s focus had shifted to concerns about gas prices, “I think we’re on the verge of something that, ultimately, history will decide was a catastrophic loss for the United States. We have done significant damage to the Islamic Republic of Iran. And right now we’re letting them undo the damage. And that is a real tragedy, not just for us, but for the people in the region too.”
Worth noting, Trump revoked Bolton’s security clearances and pulled his U.S. Secret Service protections within hours of returning to the White House following his second inauguration. The president had told reporters, “Every time people saw me come into a meeting with John Bolton standing behind me, they thought that he’d attack them because he was a warmonger.”
“We got nothing out of it,” said the commander-in-chief with reference to Bolton’s influence in the 2003 start of the Iraq War, “except a lot of death. We killed a lot of people, and John Bolton was one of those guys — a stupid guy.”
Similarly, a day prior to the former official arguing negotiations are “a mistake,” Trump posted to social media, “If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon. Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet. So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about. Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals!”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 24, 2026
Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command confirmed that Iranian targets were struck Monday after regime boats were said to have been laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. In response, the U.S. military struck boats and missile launch sites.
The New York Times indicated the “self-defense strikes” took place “Hours after Iranian negotiators arrived in Qatar for talks on ending the war,” and that, “U.S. Central command characterized the strikes in southern Iran as defensive and said they had been intended ‘to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.'”
CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said as part of a statement, “Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing cease-fire.”
CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins: “U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces. Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines. U.S. Central Command…
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 25, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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