It appears even the
White House was unaware National Security Adviser John Bolton's ouster was coming even one hour before it happened. President Trump shortly before noon on Tuesday announced that Bolton is leaving the administration, writing that he "asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning," also throwing him under the bus by writing that he "disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions."This tweet was sent at 11:58 a.m. ET. Just about an hour beforehand, at 10:55 a.m. ET the White House sent out a schedule saying Bolton would speak at a press briefing that afternoon, according to
New York magazine's Olivia Nuzzi.
The White House tells Nuzzi that Bolton resigned after that schedule was sent out, i.e. sometime in that hour between the schedule's release and Trump's tweet. Needless to say, Bolton, who is now going around publicly disputing Trump's version of events, won't speak at that press briefing anymore, and he has reportedly already left the building.