'Perplexed': John Bolton reacts to Trump intel briefings as GOP nominee

Donald Trump will receive intelligence briefings once he officially becomes the GOP nominee the same Donald Trump who told the Russians about classified asra Intel in the Oval Office the same Donald Trump who tweeted an image of Iranian capabilities from a classified spy satellite the same Donald Trump who showed the Japanese prime minister highly sensitive papers on North Korea at a patio dining table at maral Lago the same Donald Trump who hoarded hundreds of classified documents at maralago a

nd the same Donald Trump who had his intelligence access revoked for it after he left office so why is that Donald Trump getting access back joining us now former National Security adviser to president Trump John Bolton really good to have you Ambassador let me ask you um why is this why is it a danger to give him access to intelligence well I think Trump demonstrated during his presidency and and certainly in the handling of the documents after his presidency that he does doesn't pay adequate a

ttention to safeguarding these secrets and the the dangers I think uh commonly known of when they get into the wrong hands of not just revealing the information uh itself but but risking the sources and methods that are used to procure the information so I'm somewhat perplexed myself that the uh Biden White House has apparently agreed that he'll get these briefings uh I I don't think it makes any sense and I think it uh really puts whatever he is told at at risk of being disclosed so the Biden A

dministration according to sources talking NBC News has said that the reason they're doing this this is because they want to maintain a semblance of normaly in the campaign so president Trump can't former president Trump can't paint himself as the victim of uh politization politic politicization well good luck with that I mean let's go back to uh to the original purpose really President Truman had in mind when he first authorized I'm pretty sure it was Truman first authorized uh uh giving these

briefings to to presidential candidates it was to avoid a candidate saying in ignorance something that could uh could impair the National Security of the United States so it wasn't to satisfy the Curiosity of the candidate it was to protect the overall National interest uh you know we had a hard time getting Trump to pay attention in many many days of those uh briefings and when when he did really pay attention it was often because he wanted to keep a document or something that uh from time to t

ime he went on and leaked I mean I I think if you're going to do these briefings they ought to be done right so I also disagree with some Former Intelligence Community people who say well if he's going to get the briefings make sure they're pading basically I'm summarizing it I I don't like that either either give the briefing uh the way it should be or let's just dispense with it let Trump say whatever he wants so there are voters out there who look at Donald Trump's time as pres during pres as

president and say nothing really bad happened or they look at you know what he tweeted out or what He was discussing with the Japanese or what he you know told the Russians in the Oval Office or the classified documents in marago and they'll say nothing bad happened there's been no effect of this you know alleged carelessness with intelligence or classified uh information why do you argue that they should take it seriously well because the people who say that can't possibly know whether it's tr

ue or not one of the things other governments do is keep uh a better secret sometimes than we do so being able to use this information which they can put into an overall Mosaic of what they're getting uh from other sources could well benefit them uh in ways that the public can't possibly know and I would say with respect to whatever he showed Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abbe he that's an ally of the United States you know we we share a lot of intelligence with our allies Trump's mistake was d

oing it on the patio of maral Lago where where his guests could see it as well if you're going to reveal information uh to to an ally do it strategically uh not not just for the sake of showing that you know something that that the Ally or your adversary doesn't that's the problem with Trump he can't understand why it is that he should be constrained and talking about the information so I guess I would say if the Biden administ ation is determined to let this happen I'd impose conditions on the

briefings I wouldn't let any advisers in the room with Donald Trump so if the information does leak out we know exactly where it came from and I wouldn't show him or leave him any documents or photographs I'd just give a verbal briefing that hopefully could minimize the downside risk of of him revealing something if Donald Trump is elected again what happens to Nato well I'm I'm very concerned I think he's Bound in determined to withdraw the United States from NATO I think uh the the notion that

he's somehow uh using this as a bargaining leverage to get other NATO members to increase their defense spending is wrong uh thousands of people over decades myself s included as a small part of that have pushed our allies to spend more on defense so we could strengthen NATO I think Trump uses the the failure of some of these allies to spend what they themselves committed to spend 10 years ago not to strengthen NATO but to weaken it I I I think the risk of withdrawal is very real and the Hungar

ian president who's close with ladimir Putin Victor Orban is visiting Donald Trump at maral Lago today what do you make of that well you know I first met Victor Orban back in the 90s right after the uh the uh the Warsaw pack collapsed when he was a young small L liberal leader of of forces in Hungary it's an amazing transformation but honestly his greatest sin uh is is not his domestic policies which we can certainly debate it's that he's betraying the Hungarian revolution of 1956 by getting clo

se to to the Kremlin you know back then his fellow hungarians were fighting for Freedom against the Soviet Union uh and and today he has drawn Hungary closer to Russia I think betraying them and really betraying the NATO alliance that that's that's a problem imagine what he and Trump are talking about when they talk at NATO you've been long saying that Donald Trump shouldn't get close to this guy you were against him coming to the White House but we overruled by MC Mulaney well you win some and

you lose some that's uh that goes with the territory I I just think that uh the the way Hungary behaved in in holding up along with turkey the admission of Finland and really holding up the admission of Sweden the NATO was outrageous Hungary uh as the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union were collapsing uh back in 1990 and 91 H Hungary was one of the very first countries I think the first to come to Nato and say we want to be admitted uh Hungary wanted to join the Western European group of countries

in the UN they they knew what it was like to be under Russian domination they wanted nothing to do with it it's just another example of Orban not fully understanding his own country's history Ambassador John Bolton thank you very much for joining us we appreciate it