TIME

The bomb thrower in the White House

AFTER TOILING IN THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION, JOHN Bolton received a symbolic gift from his colleagues intended to sum up his tenure: a bronze-plated hand grenade. It became a prized possession that Bolton show-cased on a coffee table in his Washington office for years afterward. Now the man who relishes his role as a bomb thrower will serve as President Donald Trump’s next National Security Adviser, further unsettling a world that both men appear to enjoy keeping off balance.

Bolton’s appointment on March 22 registered as the biggest

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