YEREVAN, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS. 39th US President Jimmy Carter has slammed Donald Trump’s pick of John Bolton to lead the National Security Council. The effects of the move, which has sparked a lot of criticism, could be disastrous, Jimmy Carter said, RT reports.

The 93-year-old former President has echoed the concerns of Democratic lawmakers that have been sounding the alarm over Trump’s decision to sack Gen. HR McMaster from his national security adviser post and replace him with the former US envoy to the UN.

Bolton, known for beating the drums of war against North Korea and Iran, and pushing for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is set to formally take office on April 9, ahead of Trump's planned talks with Kim Jong-un.

Carter, who last year volunteered to travel to North Korea on behalf of the Trump administration together with McMaster, said that Bolton’s appointment is “the worst mistake [Trump] made”, speaking to CBS This Morning on Monday. 

 "I have been concerned at some of the things he's decided. I think his last choice for national security adviser was very ill-advised,” the veteran Democrat, who served as the US President from 1977 to 1981, said.

In an interview with USA Today, Carter did not mince his words, calling Bolton’s promotion “a disaster for our country,” noting that the new national security adviser has been a long-time advocate of war with North Korea, a preemptive strike on Iran and was one of the driving forces behind the Iraq invasion, which was based on flawed intelligence.

Former Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has recently revealed that Bolton, when he was a US envoy to the UN, tried to convince him that Israel must launch an attack on Iran, advice that Mofaz was reluctant to heed.

English –translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan