Bolton says he never heard Cabinet discuss removing Trump using the 25th Amendment

Former national security adviser John Bolton says he never heard of any Cabinet members discussing the prospect of removing President Trump via the 25th Amendment. 

In an interview with McClatchy published Friday, Bolton dismissed claims from an anonymous senior administration official that concerns over Trump’s fitness for office had been discussed among the administration’s top officials and had fueled conversations over whether he should be removed. 

“Certainly not during my tenure,” Bolton told McClatchy when asked the claims were true. “In terms of any sort of remaining evidence that may have happened, I didn’t see anything like that, I didn’t hear anything other than the stories that appeared in the papers. So I don’t have any evidence that it ever actually happened. It certainly was never discussed in my presence.”

The allegation made waves when it was first surfaced in 2018, during Bolton’s time in the White House, causing many Cabinet members to distance themselves from the assertion. Several administration officials have since said they have no knowledge of any person raising the prospect of using the 25th Amendment, which provides an avenue for the Cabinet to remove a president they fear is unfit for office.

The remarks were the latest Bolton has made in a press tour promoting his new tell-all memoir from his time in the Trump White House.

The memoir includes several embarrassing details for Trump, including that he asked China to buy more products from U.S. farmers to help boost his reelection bid, dismissed concerns over detention centers for Uighur Muslims in China and more. 

Bolton has been harshly critical of the president in recent weeks, painting him as a president unaware of how to wield his power and unconcerned over the implications of his decisions.

“And part of the problem the administration has is that the president doesn’t think deeply enough about the implications and consequences of the decisions he takes. And we don’t pursue long-term, coherent strategy,” Bolton told McClatchy. “So whether it’s the use of force or much of anything else, I don’t think there’s adequate consideration.”