John Bolton: Who is the pro-war hawk picked as Trump’s national security adviser?

Things to know about Donald Trump's third National Security Adviser

In choosing to make John Bolton his third National Security Adviser, Donald Trump is empowering a hawkish figure who rose to prominence under George W Bush.

A vocal supporter of the American invasion of Iraq, Mr Bolton served in the State Department during Mr Bush’s first term before becoming America’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Critics called the ambassador post an inappropriate choice given Mr Bolton’s history of assailing the United Nations. He ultimately resigned with Democrats poised to block a confirmation vote.

He has continued to question the UN’s effectiveness, lambasting the body in a 2015 op-ed as “a vast, sprawling conglomerate, overwhelmed by unsustainable ambitions, inadequate capacities, and plain reality”.

“Characterised by speeches, meetings, reports, resolutions, and endless ways to spend money, the UN has managed to construct a large carbon footprint. What else it actually accomplishes is a different issue”, Mr Bolton wrote.

The fact that Mr Trump will be receiving counsel from a staunch advocate of the US deploying its military might abroad contrasts with the “America First” focus Mr Trump espoused during the campaign.

But Mr Bolton has also been a fierce critic of Iran and North Korea, two countries that Mr Trump has forcefully criticised and that will likely continue to feature prominently in the Trump administration’s global posture.

In 2003, when he was serving as America’s chief arms control diplomat, Mr Bolton delivered a speech in Seoul, South Korea denouncing then-North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as “a tyrannical dictator” whose country resembled a “hellish nightmare”.

The President is no stranger to using vivid language to denounce North Korea, threatening the regime of Kim Jong-un with military force as the country menaced neighbours and tested multiple intercontinental ballistic missiles in recent months.

But Mr Trump has also embraced a diplomatic opening with his extraordinary agreement to meet with Mr Kim. In late February, shortly before the White House announced Mr Trump had accepted Mr Kim’s offer to meet, Mr Bolton wrote an op-ed backing a preemptive military strike on North Korea.

Mr Bolton also shares Mr Trump’s suspicion of Iran, a country the President has singled out as a threat to the United States. Mr Trump has frequently excoriated a deal forged during the Obama administration to halt Iran’s nuclear programme.

Warning Mr Obama’s approach toward Iran “has brought a bad situation to the brink of catastrophe”, Mr Bolton in 2015 authored an op-ed advocating a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“The inescapable conclusion is that Iran will not negotiate away its nuclear program. Nor will sanctions block its building a broad and deep weapons infrastructure”, Mr Bolton wrote, saying that “only military action” can “accomplish what is required”.