“Trump is the only thing he’s interested in,” John Bolton, who served as national security adviser during Trump’s first term, told me. Nor is this to say that Trump’s appointees don’t care about American national security. Other Trump appointees also hold views that may diverge from “the blob,” as detractors sometimes describe the foreign-policy establishment, but people like National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy–Designate Elbridge Colby are viewed as serious, thoughtful people with a command of their fields.