John Bolton wants diplomacy to fail, so we can have a war with North Korea. We know that, because he told us in so many words. That, however, was before he went to work for Donald Trump.
Bolton’s hawkishness is about to collide with Trump’s egotism. Trump wants a deal to: prove he truly is the supreme dealmaker; put his domestic opponents on the wrong foot; give him increased flexibility in dealing with China, South Korea, and Japan, all of which have big trade surpluses with the US; and clear the decks for a war with Iran. He might even get a statue and a Nobel Peace Prize out of it. All he has to do is accept a bad deal, and that surely won’t be hard.
How will Bolton respond? Will he fight back? Will he resign?
Don’t hold your breath. Bolton has the reputation of “kissing up and kicking down.” He’ll accept the situation in a passive-aggressive way, defend the deal in public while doing his best behind the scenes to make the implementation impossible, and turn his attention to bombing Iran.