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‘He’s a low-life’: How Donald Trump reacted to FBI raid on John Bolton’s home
When asked about the raid, US President Donald Trump distanced himself from the development but lashed out at his former aide John Bolton.
The FBI on Friday searched the Maryland home and Washington office of former national security adviser John Bolton as part of an investigation into the handling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.
Bolton, who served in Donald Trump’s first administration until being dismissed in 2019, has not been charged and was not taken into custody, the source told AP on condition of anonymity.
When asked about the raid, US President Donald Trump distanced himself from the development but lashed out at his former aide.
“No, I don't know about it. I saw it on television this morning. I'm not a fan of John Bolton. He's a real sort of a low life,” Trump told reporters.
“He could be a very unpatriotic guy. We're going to find out.”
Around the time the raid began, FBI director Kash Patel wrote a cryptic post on X, “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission,” without directly mentioning Bolton.
Bolton, once one of Trump’s top national security officials, became a vocal critic after leaving the administration. He authored a tell-all book about his time in the White House, deepening tensions between him and Trump.
Background of John Bolton FBI raid
The investigation is focused on John Bolton’s handling of classified material, particularly tied to his 2020 memoir ‘The Room Where It Happened.’
Donald Trump had sought to block the book’s release, alleging it disclosed national secrets and violated a non-disclosure agreement signed during Bolton’s White House tenure. Despite those efforts, the memoir was published.
According to the New York Post, the Justice Department under Trump’s first term launched an inquiry into the book in September 2020. Since then, Bolton has frequently clashed with his former boss, often appearing on television to criticize Trump’s national security and foreign policy record.
The FBI action also came days after Bolton commented publicly on US tariff policy and India trade moves, ahead of Trump’s scheduled summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska.
In a post on X last week, he wrote, “When Trump slapped tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, but not China which also purchases Russia oil, it may have pushed India further into the Beijing-Moscow axis. This lack of focus by the Trump Admin is an unforced error.”
He was referring to Washington's additional 25 per cent tariff on India over its Russian oil imports, raising the total levies to 50 per cent.
In an earlier interview with the HT, he described Trump as an “aberrational president” and argued that India-US ties were in “a very bad place.”
