Trump has no philosophy or even policies, says Bolton. He's shockingly ignorant about most foreign policy matters and has shown little interest in learning.
"Trump disdains knowledge, seeing relations between the United States and foreign lands, especially our adversaries, predominantly as matters of personality," he writes.
"Beyond acting on inadequate information, reflection or discussion, Trump is also feckless even after making decisions," refusing to take responsibility for decisions when things go wrong.
But what worries Bolton most is that, if reelected, Trump would be unconstrained by the reelection concerns that tend to check presidents' worst impulses.
"From Inauguration Day on, Trump would be in legacy-building territory, always treacherous ground. Given his preternatural concern with his personal image…Trump's potential to make stunning policy reversals, at times not even realizing it, is boundless."
What that would mean in terms of specific policies in a second Trump term is anyone's guess.
As Bolton writes, "Substantive philosophy and policy have been largely ignored in this analysis, because they are largely ignored by Trump. Beyond any doubt, that void remains the most important point to understand about a second Trump term. As before, it will be all about himself."
Read the op-ed at TheHill.com.
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