World - US President Donald Trump has appointed Charlie Kupperman as acting national security adviser, replacing John Bolton.
Administration spokesman Hogan Gidley confirmed the appointment. "There is no one issue here...they just didn't align on many issues," Gildey told reporters outside the White House, according to broadcaster CSPAN.
Kupperman, a former Boeing and Lockheed Martin executive, was Bolton's deputy in the White House since the start of the year.
The two worked together extensively over the years.
Trump said that he
has asked Bolton to resign,
citing strong differences of opinion with his hawkish assistant.
"I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer
needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his
suggestions, as did others in the Administration," Trump tweeted.
"I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this
morning," the president said, adding that he was aiming to announce a
replacement next week.
Bolton seemed to take a parting shot at his boss, immediately
responding on Twitter: "I offered to resign last night and President
Trump said, 'Let's talk about it tomorrow.'"
Bolton also texted US media outlets to say he resigned on his own.
The move came as a surprise, with the White House putting out an
advisory just an hour before the Trump announcement saying that
Bolton would be taking part in a media briefing along with Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Bolton also continued to post administration policy on social media
right up until the Trump announcement.
However, Trump has previously hinted at his disagreements with Bolton
on foreign policy, and observers had regularly noted that the two
made an odd couple, with the president more isolationist and the
national security adviser an interventionist.
"John Bolton is absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him, he'd take on
the whole world at one time," Trump told broadcaster NBC in June.
"But that doesn't matter because I want both sides."
Bolton, Trump's third national security adviser, appeared to be
waging numerous battles within the White House, most recently over
Afghanistan and North Korea, that seemed at odds with the president's
wishes.
Bolton was also behind the hard-line approach to countries such as
Iran and Venezuela.
The national security advisor comes from the wing of the Republican
Party more aligned with the policies of the George W Bush
administration, in which he also served. He is often seen as a
proponent and even an architect of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.