Don’t hire John Bolton: Rand Paul warns US President Donald Trump

US Republican Senator Rand Paul (file photo)

US Republican Senator Rand Paul has advised President Donald Trump against picking John Bolton as his new national security adviser, warning that the former UN ambassador is a war hawk like Senator John McCain.

“The problem with John Bolton is that he disagrees with President Trump’s foreign policy,” Paul told ABC News on Sunday.

Bolton, whose name has constantly come up for various posts in Trump’s cabinet, is among the few people shortlisted to replace Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser who resigned last week over ties with Russia.

Paul said Sunday that Bolton was a war hawk much like Senator John McCain, who has been at odds with Trump for months now.

“He would be closer to John McCain’s foreign policy. John Bolton still believes the Iraq War was a good idea, he still believes regime change is a good idea, he still believes that nation-building is a good idea,” Paul argued.

Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton (file photo)

The one-time presidential hopeful warned that Bolton, who served as America’s envoy to the UN under former president George W. Bush, had a tendency to act “on his own.”

“My fear is that secret wars would be developing around the globe,” Paul said of the prospect of Bolton being hired to serve as the president’s top security adviser,” he explained.

Flynn was fired by Trump after misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his contacts with Russia, which involved the possible removal of former President Barack Obama’s sanctions against the country.

Trump tried to stop the damage by quickly nominating Vice Admiral Robert Harward for the job, However, Harward dropped out, citing “financial and family” reasons.

‘Lucky' McCain not in charge

Paul continued his criticism of McCain, by accusing the former Republican presidential nominee of opposing Trump because of personal feuds and Americans were “lucky” that the Arizona senator was not leading the country.

“Everything that he says about the president is colored by his own personal dispute he’s got running with President Trump, and it should be taken with a grain of salt, because John McCain’s the guy who’s advocated for war everywhere,” Paul said.

Senator John McCain is trailed by reporters while walking to the Senate Chamber for a vote on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, January 31, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

“If you look at the map, there’s probably at least six different countries where John McCain has advocated for us having boots on the ground,” said Paul, noting McCain’s support for the Iraq War.

In his latest criticism of Trump, McCain compared Trump’s attacks on media with the first steps of a “dictator.”

But Paul cautioned against hyperbole and said Trump was only “expressing his opinion” and had not taken any real steps to crackdown on the press.