Wolf: Trump ‘bombs’ tweet about Bolton was ‘from a humor standpoint’

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf defended President Trump’s tweet saying former White House national security adviser John Bolton would “have bombs dropped on him” in the legal battle over his memoir, saying the comment was “from a humor standpoint” and made in frustration.

“I think … the frustration that he has with Ambassador Bolton is we all serve at the pleasure of the president. And if you disagree with the president, then you have the ability to resign. And that didn’t occur in this case,” Wolf said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

Asked by host Margaret Brennan whether the president’s phrasing was “concerning,” Wolf said it was not, adding, “I think if you listen to the president in a variety of different remarks, a lot of some of his comments are taking from a humor standpoint, a joking standpoint.”

Trump sent the tweet shortly after a federal judge ruled the Justice Department could not block the release of Bolton’s book, which the White House has claimed contains classified information.

Brennan also asked Wolf about the president’s comments on coronavirus testing during his campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday night, during which Trump said, “When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people. You’re going to find more cases. So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.'”

The White House has since claimed the comments were meant as a joke.

“What you heard from the president was frustration, frustration in the sense of that we are testing, I believe we’ve tested over 25 million Americans. We’ve tested more than any other country in this world. Instead, the press and others, all they want to focus on is an increasing case count,” Wolf said. “And we know that that’s going to occur when you test individuals more and more and more.”

Although the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed rising case counts are due to increased testing, both hospitalizations and positivity rates are also on the rise, which Brennan noted.