We talk about the most recent political information, together with the FBI search of former Trump adviser John Bolton’s house and whether or not President Trump will ship Nationwide Guard troops to extra cities.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
There’s been no summer time slowdown in Washington, D.C. President Trump’s takeover of the Capitol metropolis’s police is about to enter its third week, and now the president is threatening to ship Nationwide Guard troops to different cities. It comes because the FBI searched the house of President Trump’s former nationwide safety adviser, John Bolton. Becoming a member of us to debate all that is NPR senior White Home correspondent Tamara Keith. Good morning.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Good morning.
RASCOE: So let’s begin with John Bolton. How do you view this improvement?
KEITH: Yeah. So he was a first-term nationwide safety adviser and has since grow to be a vocal Trump critic – one thing that Trump complained about lately on social media. And considered one of Trump’s first acts as president was to withdraw Secret Service safety from Bolton. That was safety he had as a result of Iran desires him useless. So that is the context during which this search of Bolton’s house came about.
Two sources aware of the investigation who weren’t licensed to talk publicly advised NPR that the search of Bolton’s house and workplace was tied to his dealing with of labeled paperwork. Throughout an interview on Friday for NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Vice President JD Vance was particularly requested if Bolton was being focused as a result of he is a critic of President Trump. And Vance insisted he wasn’t.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “MEET THE PRESS”)
JD VANCE: If we convey a case – and, after all, we’ve not performed that but. The Division of Justice has not performed that but. We’re investigating Ambassador Bolton. But when they in the end convey a case, it will likely be as a result of they decide that he has damaged the legislation.
KEITH: And I’ll be aware, he says we. In another administration, you would not hear the White Home speaking a few potential Justice Division prison case as we as a result of there’s speculated to be a separation, however that simply would not exist within the Trump administration. Vance introduced up the Justice Division prosecutions of Trump and his allies throughout the Biden administration. The view in MAGA world is that opened Pandora’s field, and now all bets are off.
RASCOE: Tam, for those who would, are you able to simply give us a little bit extra context? Is that this nearly John Bolton?
KEITH: Not even shut. Senator Adam Schiff, who led Trump’s first impeachment, is being investigated for alleged mortgage fraud. So is Letitia James, the prosecutor in New York who secured a fraud conviction towards Trump when he was out of workplace. Different outspoken critics of Trump are brazenly expressing concern that they could possibly be subsequent.
Through the marketing campaign, President Trump advised supporters, I’m your retribution, and many individuals sounded alarms. So Trump mentioned, no, no, no, no, don’t fret. All he meant was that success could be retribution. It’s now clear that, in actual fact, retribution is retribution.
RASCOE: I imply, right here in D.C., I imply, you do see some Nationwide Guard troops patrolling the streets, however now President Trump is speaking about sending troops to Chicago. That is drawn a robust response.
KEITH: Yeah. On Friday within the Oval Workplace, President Trump steered that Chicago and New York could also be subsequent. These are each blue cities in blue states. The Washington Put up is solely reporting that the Pentagon has been drawing up planning paperwork to deploy troops to Chicago to crack down on crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, as you realize, wrote on social media, quote, “Donald Trump’s risk to convey” in “the Nationwide Guard to Chicago is not about security. It is a take a look at of the bounds of his energy and a trial run for a police state. Illinois has lengthy labored with federal legislation enforcement to sort out crime, however we cannot let a dictator impose his will.” Earlier this yr, Trump despatched troops to Los Angeles towards the desires of the governor and the mayor, and the query of whether or not he was allowed to try this remains to be being litigated.
RASCOE: And I collect there was a shock on Friday throughout an occasion about subsequent yr’s soccer World Cup draw. President Trump held a photograph that somebody had despatched him.
KEITH: Sure, that is proper. And that somebody was Russian President Vladimir Putin. Take a take heed to the way it all unfolded.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He is been very respectful of me and of our nation however not so respectful of others. However he’ll – I’ll signal this for him. However I used to be despatched one, and I believed you’d all prefer to see it. That is a person named Vladimir Putin.
KEITH: Which is outstanding – there was the president of the US within the Oval Workplace proudly holding up an image of himself with a Russian dictator, with a portrait of Ronald Reagan looming over his shoulder. This, regardless of no indicators of progress in Trump’s quest to safe peace in Russia’s struggle towards Ukraine. Trump mentioned on Friday that sanctions could possibly be again on the desk and that he’d know extra in two weeks.
RASCOE: That is NPR senior White Home correspondent Tamara Keith. Thanks for becoming a member of us.
KEITH: You are welcome.
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional info.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts might differ. Transcript textual content could also be revised to right errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org could also be edited after its unique broadcast or publication. The authoritative document of NPR’s programming is the audio document.
