During a Fox & Friends interview on Friday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) celebrated the appointment of John Bolton as President Trump’s national security adviser because it means “taking the gloves off” — and possibly “preemptive military force.”

“He has a world view that I think will help the president make us safer,” Graham said. “He’s believed stronger than anybody that North Korea having an ICBM nuclear-tipped missile is a non-starter; he believes the Iranian agreement is a terrible deal for the world, the United States, and Israel; he believes in a strong military, going after the terrorists, taking the gloves off.”

Later, Graham touted an op-ed Bolton recently wrote for Wall Street Journal column headlined, “The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First.”


“He wrote an op-ed piece a couple weeks ago saying that as a last resort, we should use preemptive military force, if that’s the only thing left, to stop North Korea from building a nuclear weapon that can hit America,” Graham said. “He believes in the military option as a last resort.”

Graham has long been an advocate of preemptive strikes against North Korea unless the country abandons its nuclear program. His argument is that the security of America has to be ensured — whatever the costs to people in other parts of the world.

During an interview on CBS last August, Graham assured Americans that if the Trump administration does go to war with North Korea — and “the time for talking is running out” — at least it will “be in the region, not here in America.”


Graham downplayed concerns that the eruption of hostilities between the U.S. and North Korea could kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Korea and put tens of thousands of American troops stationed in Seoul in harm’s war, saying Trump needs to think about the American homeland first.

“Put yourself in President Trump’s shoes for a moment — where does your allegiance lie?” he said. “Isn’t your primary purpose as President of the United States to protect the American homeland from a nuclear weapon attack by a guy like Kim Jong-un?… He’s gonna pick homeland defense over regional stability and he has to.”

Graham isn’t just excited about Bolton’s hawkish posture toward North Korea. During the Fox & Friends interview on Friday, he singled out Iran and Russia as other countries he thinks Trump’s new national security adviser will push for a more confrontational stance. Bolton has also spoken out on behalf of bombing Iran.