Did John Bolton Just Pull the Old ‘You Can’t Fire Me, I Quit’ Routine?

After the headline shattering news this morning that President Trump let go National Security Adviser John Bolton from his post, there seems to be some confusion about what came first, the firing chicken, or the resignation egg. After President Trump’s initial tweet announcement on the firing of John Bolton, Bolton ‘fired back’ on Twitter, stating that he actually resigned last night.

See tweet below from John Bolton:

I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, “Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) September 10, 2019

More recently still, Fox News posted John Bolton’s official resignation letter, citing nothing about accepting President Trump’s request to resign, but simply stating, “I hereby resign, effective immediately, as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Thank you for having afforded me this opportunity to serve our country.”

See resignation letter in Facebook post below:

In a tweet below, a Fox news video with Brian Kilmeade is featured, where Kilmeade claims John Bolton ‘texted him’ to tell him that he wants to be clear that he resigned. Check out the video in the tweet below:

John Bolton is texting Fox News hosts on live TV telling them he resigned.

Brian Kilmeade: “John Bolton just texted me, just now, he’s watching. He said, ‘let’s be clear, I resigned.'” pic.twitter.com/YvrWO0kk7f

— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) September 10, 2019

Forbes reports a timeline of the sequence of events:

Topline: President Trump said he fired national security adviser John Bolton on Twitter Tuesday afternoon amid reported personality and policy clashes in the White House⁠—but Bolton claimed he had already offered his resignation.

• At 11:58 a.m. EST, Trump tweeted that he “informed” Bolton Monday evening that “his services are no longer needed.” 
• Bolton fired back on Twitter 12 minutes later, writing, “I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, ‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow.’”
• Just six minutes after Bolton’s tweet, Washington Post reporter Robert Costa joined in. “Ambassador Bolton sends me a text message just now: ‘Let’s be clear, I resigned, having offered to do so last night,’” wrote Costa on Twitter.
• More reporters on Twitter said they received the same text message from Bolton to confirm he resigned and was not fired.
• A replacement for Bolton will be named sometime next week, according to a follow-up Trump tweet. The White House named Charles Kupperman, who was Bolton’s deputy, as the acting national security adviser.
• In a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed Trump asked Bolton for his resignation last night, and that “it was received this morning.”

Here is the original tweet that set the headlines ablaze this morning by President Trump:

….I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2019

It’s unclear it this disagreement will have any real effect on anything going forward, and if Bolton and Trump will be able to have some sort of amicable relationship in the future. One thing that is for sure though, they did not fully agree on foreign policy as is further detailed in the video below.

See video below from Fox News: