Former National Security Advisor John Bolton hopes President Donald Trump’s peace talks with Iran fail.
During a Monday appearance on CNN, Bolton was asked about the latest developments about Washington’s talks with Tehran over ending the war. “Well, I hope the negotiations break down because every day that goes by is a gift to Iran,” Bolton replied. “It gives them 24 more hours to recover from the pummeling they took during the six weeks of US-Israeli attack.”
The former advisor insisted that the ceasefire and peace talks give the Iranian regime “time to try and reconstitute their government, which increasingly looks dysfunctional in decision-making capability, and it postpones the day of reckoning ultimately when the threat that they pose to control over the Strait of Hormuz is resolved in a way that they never come back and do it again.”
He further stated that “the ceasefire was a mistake” and that the US is “on the verge of something that ultimately history will decide was a catastrophic loss for the United States.”
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton hopes Trump administration's peace talks with Iran fail.
— Jeff Charles, Asker of Questions🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) May 26, 2026
"Well, I hope the negotiations break down, because every day that goes by is a gift to Iran." pic.twitter.com/l4lGyzKM6H
Bolton has criticized the peace talks before. During an appearance on NewsNation earlier this month he said Trump “hasn’t finished the job” in Iran and that “the United States holds a great advantage here.”
“My definition of finishing the job is ousting the regime in Tehran, but there are steps less than that that [President] Trump could take, and I’m a little surprised that he hasn’t done it,” he said.
I agree 100%!
— Diane H 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇮🇷 🇺🇦 ✡ (@DianeB528) May 26, 2026
John Bolton: US, Iran peace talks are ‘a mistake’ https://t.co/xi6lWcgaKf
The current peace negotiations center on a memorandum that would stop the war, deal with Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and then enter into broader negotiations about issues like the regime’s nuclear program, according to Reuters.
Trump said on Friday that a deal with Iran was “largely negotiated,” with an emerging framework that would designate nuclear talks as a separate matter, The Associated Press reported.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. has seen some slight progress, but that there was still more work to be done after Iran sent a new proposal that repeated its demands on sanctions relief, frozen assets, and the Strait of Hormuz.