Bolton: Odds that Trump would withdraw from NATO very high

Former White House national security adviser John Bolton warned that former President Trump is likely to withdraw from NATO if reelected in November.

Bolton, citing past threats from Trump about NATO allies not spending adequately on defense, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Thursday that the odds are “very high.”

“For Republicans who believe that Trump will be OK in a second term — that he won‘t ditch support for Ukraine, that he won‘t withdraw from NATO, that he won‘t interpret the treaty of Washington in a way that makes it wholly useless, … go ahead and vote for Trump if you want, but for goodness stakes do it with your eyes open,” Bolton said in an interview on CNN’s “The Source.”

“The odds that he will withdraw from NATO are very high,” he added.

Collins had asked Bolton what his thoughts were on remarks made by Trump at the Detroit Economic Club earlier Thursday, when he reiterated that he would not protect NATO allies from Russian aggression.

The CNN host also mentioned veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s latest bombshell book that claims Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have secretly been in touch at least seven times since the 45th president left the White House. Trump has denied the claims.

Bolton, who served under the Trump administration, acknowledged that the number of times Trump and Putin spoke is in dispute, however it “wouldn’t surprise [him] in the slightest” if the former president was in touch with the Russian leader.

“It would simply confirm what has been evident for some time: that Trump thinks he’s got a great personal relationship with Vladimir Putin,” he told Collins.

But, the former White House adviser added, “if he has a good relationship personally, then the U.S. and that country have a good relationship — that’s just utter nonsense.”

Bolton had previously warned of Trump’s departure from NATO, calling Trump’s foreign policy “erratic” in an interview last year.

“In a second Trump term, we’d almost certainly withdraw from NATO,” Bolton said at the time, citing the former president’s deal with the Taliban that led to the U.S. withdrawal, and his dealings with Iran.

The Hill has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.