President Trump speaks to reporters on Air Force One – June 5, 2026

President Trump on Friday reacted to former National Security Advisor John Bolton accepting a plea deal in the classified documents case, telling reporters he’s “paying the price for certainly being dishonest.”

Bolton was charged for allegedly sending “highly sensitive” classified materials to family members from a private, unsecured email server while he was working at the White House during the first Trump administration and using classified documents to write his book titled “The Room Where It Happened.” The FBI raided Bolton’s home last summer, where they discovered classified emails.

“I was never much of a fan of John Bolton. I never thought he was a smart person,” Trump said, slamming him as a warmonger.

“I used him for a purpose,” Trump added, “but he always wanted to kill people in war, and that was okay for me, as long as I didn’t listen to him, which I never did.”

“He’s a bad guy, John Bolton, he’s a dirty guy, and we caught him,” Trump added.

Trump further described the successful conviction as “a great honor,” adding that he helped “from the standpoint of encouragement.”

WATCH:

Reporter: What was your reaction to John Bolton agreeing to plead guilty in the classified documents?

Trump: Well, I was never much of a fan of John Bolton. I never thought he was a smart person, and he was a radical right in terms of war, not in terms of other things. He was— he wanted to go to war with anybody that opened their mouth, anybody that told. And I used him for a purpose. You know, he was involved with Bush, and he created a lot of problems, but he always wanted to kill people in war, and that was okay for me, as long as I didn’t listen to him, which I never did.

He’s a bad guy, John Bolton, he’s a dirty guy, and we caught him. We caught him, and you know, he wrote a book. You look at all the information they took. I mean, if you look at that case, it’s a great honor to have helped from the standpoint of encouragement. I looked at John Bolton as somebody that was a very dishonest guy and not a smart guy, and I guess he’s paying the price for certainly being dishonest.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Bolton agreed to plead guilty to a felony count of retention of sensitive national security documents.

He is facing 60 days in jail and $2.25 million in fines.

MORE:

John Bolton Agrees to Plead Guilty Over Mishandling Classified Documents

Jordan Conradson Jordan Conradson, formerly TGP’s Arizona correspondent, is currently on assignment in Washington DC. Jordan has played a critical role in exposing fraud and corruption in Arizona's elections and elected officials. His reporting on election crimes in Maricopa County led to the resignation of one election official, and he was later banned from the Maricopa County press room for his courage in pursuit of the truth. TGP and Jordan finally gained access after suing Maricopa County, America's fourth largest county, and winning at the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Conradson looks forward to bringing his aggressive style of journalism to the Swamp.

You can email Jordan Conradson here, and read more of Jordan Conradson's articles here.

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