by Adedotun Michael

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton who once enjoyed unhindered access to President Donald Trump has lamented that he could no longer get access to him. He said, “I requested a meeting with him and I was turned down”.

Bolton who could not hold his frustration any longer went public with his complaint in an op-ed published Monday in National Review used the opportunity to lay out a blueprint to exit the Iran nuclear deal owing to his inability to see the President deliver it to the president himself.

Bolton served recently as an informal adviser to the Trump Cabinet on national security issues and was also considered for secretary of state and national security adviser during the presidential transition last year.

In the op-ed, Bolton said that, “staff changes now prevent him from seeing the president”. He also wrote that, although erstwhile White House chief strategist Steve Bannon had asked him to draw up a plan to extricate the US from the Iran deal earlier in July, the plan never made it to Trump’s desk after Bannon was fired a few weeks ago.

Bolton is raising an eyebrow about why his plan wasn’t considered following President Trump’s call for additional options over the nuclear agreement.

“The idea was I would go see him and, you know, the timing of the certification decision and Reince Priebus’s firing were not far apart. Priebus’s replacement as White House chief of staff, John Kelly, has limited the number of visitors to the Oval Office”.

Nevertheless, Bolton continued to consult with the Trump Cabinet frequently at the president’s request.

Editor