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<\/a>It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Depending on the day, and depending on who you ask, this is Ambassador John Bolton\u2019s moment of ultimate triumph\u2014or it\u2019s the national security advisor\u2019s moment of final overreach.<\/span><\/p>\nTwo sources familiar with the matter tell me President Donald Trump\u2019s rumbustious National Security Council chief is headed for the exits, having flown too close to the sun on his regime change efforts for Iran, Venezuela and North Korea. \u201cHearing that Trump wants him out,\u201d a former senior administration official told me.<\/span><\/p>\n But is he? For Bolton, it\u2019s full steam ahead: reportedly commissioning a prospective Pentagon plan for an enormous deployment<\/strong><\/span><\/a> to the region in the event of an Iranian attack. And for his part, the president has poured cold water on talk of a Bolton ouster.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe has strong views on things but that’s okay. I actually temper John, which is pretty amazing,\u201d Trump told reporters last week, in a nod to his own turbulent reputation. \u201cI’m the one that tempers him. That’s okay. I have different sides. I have John Bolton and other people that are a little more dovish than him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI like John,\u201d Trump made sure to say.<\/span><\/p>\n But the president\u2019s assurances haven\u2019t quelled rampant speculation in the nation\u2019s capital\u2014and other capitals\u2014that there\u2019s now daylight between Trump and Bolton, and that it is the national security advisor who is driving the administration\u2019s global confrontations\u2014particularly, on Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n The squabble goes further: a State Department official and a former senior administration official both report that Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are \u201cfighting all the time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A former senior State Department official still close with Foggy Bottom paints a picture of a Pompeo enthusiastic about isolating the regime in Tehran, but fearful of an actual war that might engulf much of the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n The situation grows more acute by the day. The United States in recent days has deployed new warships to the Persian Gulf, and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been implicated in an attack on Saudi oil tankers. One State Department official told me that though Pompeo is a conservative and a partisan, he\u2019s also been defensive of his department\u2019s turf, and is keen to be reasonably well-liked among career officials. Bolton, by contrast, loathes State: he\u2019s an \u201carsonist,\u201d this official mused.<\/span><\/p>\n With regards to Iran, these perceived cleavages are now being exploited by those outside the administration who seek a course correction: namely, Iran and the architects of the JCPOA.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t believe that President Trump wants confrontation,\u201d Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told Face the Nation two weekends ago. \u201cBut we know that there are people who are pushing for it. \u2026 Ambassador Bolton has said that we need to use the Trump presidency to deal with Iran.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In the Los Angeles Times<\/em>, former Obama administration hands Colin Kahl and Jon B. Wolfsthal goad Trump further<\/a><\/strong><\/span>: \u201cIt\u2019s John Bolton\u2019s world. Trump is just living in it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Coming from the other end, Douglas Macgregor, a Bolton rival and would-be successor<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, writes in SpectatorUSA: <\/em>\u201cJohn Bolton is the problem<\/a><\/strong><\/span> \u2026 Trump\u2019s national security adviser is getting dangerous…particularly to the president\u2019s ideals\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Will such a pressure campaign work? Two things are certain: the president is no fan of usurpations, even perceived, of his authority\u2014and that cuts both ways. But also, so long as Bolton is in government, he’ll continue to breathe fire.<\/span><\/p>\n