Note: This was recorded before the 2024 presidential election results.

With Eliot on the trip, Eric welcomes John Bolton, former ambassador to the United Nations, national security advisor to Donald Trump and author of Surrender is not an option And The room where it happened. They explain why Trump is so susceptible to the blandishments of foreign dictators like Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as well as his appalling level of basic knowledge about how the U.S. government actually works and about international affairs in general. They discuss the likely makeup of a Trump national security team in a presumptive second Trump term and what a Trump victory would mean for Ukraine and the future of NATO. They also discuss what a Harris team might look like and whether a Harris foreign policy would be a continuation of Biden’s policies or whether it might reflect more of the more Reaganite rhetoric she used on the campaign trail. Finally, they discuss two or three international security issues that Ambassador Bolton believes will require the most urgent attention from whoever wins the election.

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Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.