Read John Bolton’s Terse Resignation Letter to Trump

Read John Bolton’s Terse Resignation Letter to Trump
Then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton talks to reporters outside of the White House in Washington on April 30, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Janita Kan
9/10/2019
Updated:
9/10/2019

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s resignation letter has been obtained by a Fox News reporter.

Bolton’s firing has garnered much attention after he challenged President Donald Trump’s account of events, saying that he had offered to resign last night.

Trump announced on Sept. 10 that he had fired his top adviser saying that he “disagreed strongly with many of [Bolton’s] suggestions.”

“I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning,” he wrote.

“I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week,” he added.

After Trump posted his Tweet, Bolton took to Twitter to give his version of the discussion. “I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, ‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow,’” he wrote.

The resignation letter dated Sept. 10 stated: “Dear Mr, President: I hereby resign, effective immediately, as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Thank you for having afforded me this opportunity to serve our country.”

Bolton’s firing came after Trump said talks with the Taliban were “dead” after secret Camp David talks were canceled.

“They’re dead. They’re dead. As far as I’m concerned, they’re dead,” Trump told White House reporters on Monday, Sept. 9.

Over the weekend, the president canceled the secret meeting, which was set to host Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Taliban leaders.

“They thought that they had to kill people to put themselves in a little better negotiating position,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House to board Marine One for a rally in North Carolina.

He called the attack “a big mistake” and added that, “you can’t do that. You can’t do that with me.”

Trump mentioned that a U.S. soldier from Puerto Rico, Army Sergeant 1st Class Elis A. Barreto Ortiz, was killed in the attack, adding that the United States hit the Taliban “harder” over the past four days “than they’ve been hit in over 10 years.”

In last week’s incident, the terrorist group launched a suicide attack that killed Ortiz and more than 10 others in Kabul on Sept. 5.

Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.