Trump Lashes Out At Bolton In Wake Of Bombshell Manuscript: ‘Nasty & Untrue Book’

President Donald Trump, flanked by National Security Advisor John Bolton, speaks to the media as he meets with senior military leadership in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 9, 2018. (Photo by Ricky Cario... President Donald Trump, flanked by National Security Advisor John Bolton, speaks to the media as he meets with senior military leadership in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 9, 2018. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

President Donald Trump blew up at former National Security Adviser John Bolton on Wednesday morning after Bolton’s damning accounts in his unpublished manuscript threw a wrench in Republican senators’ plan to block witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial.

“For a guy who couldn’t get approved for the Ambassador to the U.N. years ago, couldn’t get approved for anything since, ‘begged’ me for a non Senate approved job, which I gave him despite many saying ‘Don’t do it, sir,’ takes the job, mistakenly says ‘Libyan Model’ on T.V., and many more mistakes of judgement,” Trump ranted via Twitter. “Gets fired because frankly, if I listened to him, we would be in World War Six by now, and goes out and IMMEDIATELY writes a nasty & untrue book.”

The President also fired off at midnight a shorter complaint about Bolton, who departed from the White House on sour terms with Trump in September.

“Why didn’t John Bolton complain about this ‘nonsense’ a long time ago, when he was very publicly terminated,” Trump tweeted. “He said, not that it matters, NOTHING!”

However, it’s extremely unlikely Trump was unaware of the contents of Bolton’s upcoming book given that the White House was given the manuscript for review on December 30.

According to the New York Times’ report on the manuscript this week, Trump explicitly told Bolton that he wanted to continue freezing the military aid to Ukraine until Ukrainian officials handed over documents pertinent to an investigation into Joe Biden.

The Times also reported that Bolton’s manuscript describes how the former adviser told Attorney General Bill Barr that he was concerned Trump was doing personal favors for the presidents of China and Turkey.

The revelations seem to have complicated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) Trump-approved scheme to rush the impeachment trial without allowing witnesses to testify; Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) have admitted Bolton’s manuscript makes a strong case for witness testimony, and McConnell privately told his caucus on Tuesday that he does not yet have the votes to block witnesses.

Latest News
380
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. I’m convinced! Let’s call everything off!

  2. Avatar for hoagie hoagie says:

    That’s right, idiot, make Bolton even madder.

  3. Oh if only there were some way you could refute these allegations Donny! If only there were witnesses, or documents in your possession that you could be given to the Senate to defend you. Sad.

  4. Nasty and untrue? So it’s 100% accurate. Nice to know.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

374 more replies

Participants

Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for becca656 Avatar for sniffit Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for leftcoaster Avatar for darrtown Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for tena Avatar for rickk Avatar for lizzymom Avatar for redemptionsong Avatar for brian512 Avatar for greysea Avatar for cub_calloway Avatar for kelaine Avatar for redhand Avatar for occamscoin Avatar for txlawyer Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for emiliano4 Avatar for Hatmama

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: