Ahead of Donald Trump‘s inauguration on Monday, the president-elect’s former national security adviser John Bolton made predictions about what a second Trump term will look like.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s transition team via email for comment on Sunday.

Why It Matters

Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser for 17 months, until, he said, he resigned from his post in September 2019. Trump claims he fired Bolton who has served with every Republican presidential administration since Ronald Reagan.

Since then, Bolton has been critical of his former boss, telling CNN in September that Trump was not an “acceptable” presidential candidate for Republicans.

As Trump gears up to take office tomorrow, he has named and shamed several people who are on the White House blacklist to serve in his administration, including Bolton, who has previously spoken out about the dangers of a second Trump term.

What To Know

In a Sunday interview on United Kingdom-based LBC Radio with host Lewis Goodall, Bolton was asked about how the second Trump term will look in comparison to his first term.

Bolton predicted that Trump’s second term will be “just as chaotic” as the first, adding that the first term will be “duplicated” due to Trump not being “disciplined by what the job requires.”

“I think it will be just as chaotic; that’s just the way Trump is. One day he is talking about imposing 60 percent tariffs of China, the next day he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico, now he is forcing the Israeli government to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza that Joe Biden has been working on for seven months because he wants the conflict out of the way…So I think it will be a very wild ride. I think it will be duplicated in many respects in domestic policy as well because Trump is just not disciplined by what the job requires,” Bolton said.

He added: “What he is seeking in senior officials in his second term are yes men and yes women. If you look at the range in nominees he’s already made public…the theme that runs through all of them is that they will unhesitatingly say ‘yes sir’ and ironically that will not serve Trump well over the long term and certainly won’t serve the country well.”

Trump, in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, took aim at several people who served in his first term, including Bolton, who have spoken out against him over the past few years, as he said anyone associated with them will not serve in his incoming administration.

“As of today, the incoming Trump Administration has hired over 1,000 people for The United States Government. In order to save time, money, and effort, it would be helpful if you would not send, or recommend to us, people who worked with, or are endorsed by, Americans for No Prosperity (headed by Charles Koch), ‘Dumb as a Rock’ John Bolton, ‘Birdbrain’ Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, disloyal Warmongers Dick Cheney, and his Psycho daughter, Liz, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, General(?) Mark Milley, James Mattis, Mark Yesper, or any of the other people suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, more commonly known as TDS,” he wrote.

Several of the people Trump named in his post did not endorse him in last year’s election and have warned against a second Trump term.

What Bolton Has Previously Said

After last year’s presidential election, Bolton reiterated that Trump’s administration is poised to be just as “chaotic” as the first time.

Speaking with CNN‘s Kaitlan Collins in November, Bolton reacted to news that Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war was joined by billionaire Elon Musk, who backed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

“You know, my first reaction when I heard it was, ‘Well, so what…what’s unusual about having the vice president-elect sitting with the president-elect on a call?'” Bolton said. “And then I realized, of course, Elon Musk wasn’t the vice president-elect.”

He continued: “This is really, I think, typical of Trump. This happened in the transition to his first term in 2016-17. Sort of bounds and norms are not Trump’s strength, as we know. I wouldn’t get too hyperthyroid about it too quickly, but it’s certainly not a sign that order and stability have suddenly appeared at Mar-a-Lago. Despite what everybody’s talking about these early appointments, to me, it looks like the same chaotic ‘do-what-you-want-to-do’ Donald Trump, with his latest bright, shiny object, Elon Musk.”

What People Are Saying

President-elect Donald Trump wrote in a Truth Social post in January 2023: “I found John Bolton to be one of the dumbest people in Government but, I am proud to say, I used him well.”

Speaking to CNN in October 2023, John Kelly, who served as Trump’s White House chief of staff, described Trump as “a person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about.

“A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”

Asked about the prospect of a second Trump White House term, Kelly added: “God help us.”

What Happens Next

Trump’s inauguration ceremony will be held indoors on Monday due to severe weather conditions.

Once in office Trump has pledged to implement several “day one” policies including conducting the biggest mass deportation operation in American history when it comes to illegal immigrants.

The president-elect has repeatedly vowed that on the first day of his administration he would halt all migrant flights, shut down the CBP One asylum application app, end catch-and-release, reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, and secure the southern border.