National Security Adviser-designate John Bolton dropped by the Pentagon today to make a get-acquainted call on Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

I don’t think the relationship between Bolton and Mattis will be anywhere as near as rocky as some are predicting. While Mattis seemed to view Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster as a very junior partner in the national security arena (this is actually not surprising as Mattis was much more senior and he was a USMC officer; all of that brings its own baggage to a relationship), Bolton brings experience from the upper echelons of the diplomatic corps. I also don’t expect this relationship to be a love-fest. But I think there will be tighter coordination with Bolton an NSC than there was with McMaster. Right up to the point where there isn’t.