Former national security adviser John Bolton, who served in the Trump administration, said Tuesday that he fears a second Donald Trump presidency would bring “constitutional crisis” but that he still has faith in the strength and integrity of the country’s institutions.
“I think it’s almost certain that the top level of the second Trump term will be the bottom level on Jan. 20, 2021. And then it will go downhill from there. But the consequence doesn’t mean that the government will then be under his control,” he said in an interview on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
“One of the greatest dangers that a second Trump term brings would be constitutional crisis: Who is he going to nominate to be attorney general, and [what happens] when the attorney general gives an order from Trump” to Department of Justice staff members and “they say no, and they resign, and the entire Department of Justice begins to resign? What happens when he gives illegal orders to the career military, and they start to resign?”
“I think that’s what we’re going to have,” he said. “Not so much the threat of Trump asserting his authority, as the breaking down of institutions.”
Bolton said, nonetheless, he still has faith that the country’s institutions are strong enough to resist any attempts by Trump to usurp control for personal gain.
“The question is, just because Trump tries to do it, do you think the institutions simply dissolve? I don’t think that happens,” Bolton said. “And I think as long as you still have an independent judiciary, a lot of people may run up a lot of legal fees, but it will result in the country turning against Trump, and we’ll see how this plays out.”
Bolton said he’s “unalterably opposed” to Trump, the current front-runner, getting the GOP 2024 presidential nomination.
“But even if he does, and even if he wins,” Bolton said, “the battle goes on.”
“It’s going to be a costly battle. But I think panicking and assuming the absolute worst underestimates the strength of the Constitution and our institutions,” he said.