U.S. Sen. Rand Paul celebrated President Donald Trump’s firing of national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday, saying that the “chances of war go down greatly” with Bolton leaving the White House.
Paul has long criticized Bolton as being a war hawk who is too aggressive on foreign policy issues.
In a press call shortly after Bolton’s ouster, Paul said the president has surrounded himself with people who don’t want to intervene in foreign conflicts.
“I think fundamentally President Trump and Bolton really had different worldviews,” Paul said. “It’s a naïve point of view to believe that we can militarily topple regimes around the world and that they’ll be replaced with democracies.”
Paul has criticized many of Trump’s foreign policy and national security appointees, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and CIA Director Gina Haspel.
Earlier this year, Paul called Bolton a “malignant influence” in Trump’s administration, accusing him of trying to boost the U.S.’ military presence in the Middle East amid tensions with Iran.
On Tuesday, Paul said that he wouldn’t publicly recommend a replacement for Bolton.
“My hope is that the president will find somebody who actually better represents and will try to carry out the president’s policy,” Paul said.
President Trump announced Bolton’s firing via Twitter, saying that he “disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions.”
Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Bolton disputed the characterization that he was fired, tweeting that he “offered to resign” the night before.
Paul has tried to become an influential voice on foreign policy matters during the Trump administration. In July, Paul asked the president to tap him as a go-between with top Iranian officials, according to Politico.
Last year, Paul defended Trump’s Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and traveled to Russia to promote greater dialogue between the countries.
