Former White House national security adviser John Bolton reportedly told a private audience in Miami President Trump’s foreign policy on Turkey was driven by personal interests and approached foreign affairs like win-or-lose real estate deals.

A half-dozen people who attended the speech at the Morgan Stanley global investment event last week told NBC Bolton described Trump as a man who doesn’t understand how foreign policy works and the need for consistency. He also sharply criticized Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as New York social climbers.

Bolton, considered a foreign policy hawk, left the Trump administration Sept. 10 – he said he resigned; Trump said he fired him – and has been keeping a low profile since, refusing to testify before House impeachment investigators without a court order directing him to do so, despite having relevant knowledge. Bolton said he had been contemplating resignation for three months, keeping a letter in a desk drawer.

Trump last month decided to pull U.S. troops from the Syria-Turkey border, opening the way for Turkey to invade and push Kurdish fighters, who had helped oust Islamic State group terrorists, inhabitants from the area. It also allowed Russia to fill the vacuum created by the U.S. departure.

Bolton told the group the Trumps have personal or business relationships with Turkey, and none of the president’s advisers supported his strategy. The Trump Organization has property in Istanbul, and even Trump admitted during the 2016 presidential campaign that presented “a little conflict of interest.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to visit the White House Wednesday.

Bolton, who has a book deal with Simon & Schuster, said Trump refuses to accept that Russia interfered in the 2016 election because he fears it would undermine the validity of his election. Bolton said if Trump is re-elected, he could withdraw the U.S. from NATO and pursue an isolationist policy.

The report said Bolton did not discuss the impeachment proceedings or the Ukraine policy that led to them. However, he’s known as a prolific note-taker and witnesses have testified behind closed doors that Bolton directed an aide to let the deputy White House counsel know what was going on, adding he wanted no part of “whatever drug deal” was being cooked up. His lawyer said in a letter to lawmakers Bolton was personally involved in the events lawmakers are investigating and has information that has yet to be disclosed.

RELATED STORIES
Russia Ukraine Trump Morgan Stanley