From “War Criminal” To CNN Regular: John Bolton’s Rebrand As A Truth-Teller On Ukraine

On The Source, CNN’s guest host rolled out John Bolton — no longer the “war criminal” they once despised, but a regular commentator invited to reinforce their narrative.

During the Bush years, Democrats and the corporate liberal media branded John Bolton a “war criminal” and a “reckless neocon warmonger.” He was blasted as an “interventionist” who pushed disastrous foreign wars. Today, CNN treats Bolton like a wise elder statesman. Why? Because he split with Trump on ugly terms and delivers two things the networks value: attacks on Trump and a hawkish line on Ukraine that Democrats currently embrace.

Bolton claimed Biden’s team initially constrained Ukraine’s fight:

“There’s no question but that for the time before he took office, the Biden administration tried to limit the both weapons systems and supplies to Ukraine and limit their strategy to hit targets inside Russia. Which is to say it’s bad if Russia invades Ukraine, but somehow it’s worse if Ukraine defends itself by striking Russian targets behind the front lines inside Ukraine.”

Here’s what he left out: Ukraine was already striking inside Russia using its own drones and Soviet-era weapons. What Biden restricted was the use of U.S.-supplied long-range systems for those attacks, because Putin had warned such strikes would be a “serious escalation.” In May 2024, the U.S. allowed strikes into Russia near the Kharkiv front, and by November 2024 Washington allowed ATACMS to hit targets inside Russia.

The U.S. also made major commitments of military capabilities — HIMARS launchers, Abrams tanks, Patriot air defense systems, artillery, drones, F-16 pilot training, and eventually ATACMS. By mid-2025, U.S. military aid commitments to Ukraine totaled roughly $75–80 billion, with broader U.S. war-related spending sometimes estimated even higher.

Bolton went further:

“Now the corollary to the president’s tweet today is, if it’s critical for a country defending its freedom and independence and territorial integrity to strike in the country of the invader, that we’ll provide weapons systems more quickly and in greater quantity. So I hope that’s on the Pentagon’s list of things to do as well.”

That’s striking, because Bolton was once denounced by Democrats as a reckless warmonger over Iraq and Iran — yet today CNN nods along as he calls for escalation in Ukraine.

Bolton also gave CNN what they wanted on Trump, portraying him as outmaneuvered by Putin:

“Well, this has happened before, after six months in office and there with no progress toward a ceasefire or any kind of substantive resolution of the Russian invasion, I think Trump did think that, that Putin had, had pierced the envelope of what he considered the limits of their friendship to be. And he threatened sanctions and took a number of steps that quite likely convinced Putin that he was in enough trouble. He had to try and meet with Trump and roll him back in which I think he did in Alaska.”

He piled on by blaming Trump’s own administration for chaos and confusion:

“But, but frankly, the confusion over the past two and a half weeks in substantial part is due to the administration itself not being able to say consistently what has been discussed and what has been decided. Whether it’s on the issue of land swaps or security guarantees and that, that, that confusion continues to this day. And I think that’s a contributing factor. Of course, the Russians want to slow roll this. They’re hoping the whole thing will go away as they successfully slow rolled Trump’s efforts during the first six months.”

Here, Bolton’s claim was that Trump’s team was disorganized and inconsistent, sending mixed signals on key issues — which let Russia drag out negotiations and buy time.

John Bolton hasn’t changed. He’s still the same “war criminal,” “interventionist,” and “villain” Democrats once despised. But because he bashes Trump and pressures Washington to escalate the war in Ukraine, CNN and the corporate liberal media now treat him as a “truth-teller.” From war criminal to trusted CNN commentator — nothing changed but the politics.