and that is the fact of the matter when we re discussing donald trump. we can talk about the post-world war ii order, talk about nato, talk about international organizations, that is not his instinct. his instinct is not to become more involved in syria. admiral stay with us. we have much more to get to on this. on this first day of the john bolton era, a new column says america is in a battle to defend democracy and president trump is on the wrong side. we re going to read from fred hyatt s piece in the washington post. plus, more republicans seem willing to look the other way on scott pruitt s controversies since he s following through on the president s agenda. we ll talk about that precedent being set. and reports that staffers under mick mulvaney are taking pretty sweet paychecks home. we ll be right back on morning joe.