Written by Frank Li
John Bolton’s “tell-all” book (The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir) is out. I have read it and hereby provide a brief review.
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0. Overview
It’s a meticulous book, describing Mr. Bolton’s work as President Trump’s National Security Adviser for 17 months in great detail. However, because the most important points in the book were leaked before the book was published, I failed to find the book interesting, other than the fact that it re-affirms what Bolton has already revealed. Two examples:
- “I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations” (from “Bolton Book Hitting Trump Draws White House Rebuke” (WSJ, June 18, 2020).
- Bolton: Putin thinks ‘he can play’ Trump like a ‘fiddle’.
However, if you like Fire and Fury: Inside Trump White House, in which author Michael Wolff largely conveys Steve Bannon’s perspective (“Fire and Fury”: A Book Review), you may find this book better for one simple reason: it is first-hand information, without a middleman like Michael Wolff in between, despite the fact that it is two and a half years too late.
I will highlight four points as follows:
- Chapter 4: The Singapore sling – North Korea.
- Chapter 5: Helsinki, Trump-Putin summit.
- Chapter 10: Thunder out of China.
- Chapter 14: The end of the idyll – Ukraine.
Let me elaborate on each …
1. The Singapore sling
Below is an excerpt.
The more I learned, the more discouraged and pessimistic I became about a Trump-Kim summit. I was deeply skeptical of efforts to negotiate the North out of its nuclear-weapons program, which Pyongyang had already sold many times to the US and others in exchange for economic benefits.
I think Bolton is right on this one – The entire Trump-Kim love affair was photo opportunities for both, with no realistic outcome (e.g. North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons) remotely possible, whatsoever!
2. Helsinki, Trump-Putin summit
Below is an excerpt.
Worryingly, however, Putin also said he wanted Trump to win the 2016 election “because he talked about bringing the US-Russian relationship back to normal,” a significant deviation from the standard public line that countries don’t interfere in others’ internal politics and would work with whomever was elected. That in turn paled before the Trump response near the end of the press conference, when Trump said,
“My people came to me -Dan Coats came to me and some others-they said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be, but I really do want to see the server. But I have-I have confidence in both parties… So I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
Kelly and I, sitting next to each other in the audience, were almost frozen to our seats by Trump’s answer. It was obvious that major corrective action would be needed because of this self-inflicted wound, but what exactly that would be was far from evident. The immediate media coverage was catastrophic.
President Trump was clearly out-matched and played by President Putin “like a fiddle” (Bolton: Putin thinks ‘he can play’ Trump like a ‘fiddle’), not only in this case, but also predictably in all other cases! For more, read: President Trump vs. President Putin.
3. Thunder out of China
Below is an excerpt.
Trump approached trade and trade deficits as if reading a corporate balance sheet: trade deficits meant we were losing, and trade surpluses meant we were winning.
This looks accurate.
Below is another excerpt.
Trump pointed out Lighthizer and Navarro (whose very presence must have irritated the Chinese) as the hawks …
Bolton’s description of Navarro looks accurate: “whose very presence must have irritated the Chinese“.
However, Bolton does not seem to realize that Trump actually hired him for the same reason as he hired Navarro!
Below is an excerpt from “Trump Calls Former Aide a ‘Hated’ Liar” (WSJ, June 18, 2020).
Trump said he kept Mr. Bolton on staff as a negotiation tool, to instill fear in other world leaders. Mr. Trump said he blocked Mr. Bolton several times, from pushing the U.S. into a war, but declined to give an example.
Bottom line: Nobody takes these two extremists seriously, except for themselves!
4. The end of the idyll – Ukraine
Below is an excerpt.
Ukraine seems an unlikely place as a battleground to imperil an American presidency, but that is exactly what happened in 2019, exploding literally just days after I resigned. My timing couldn’t have been better. Not only was I a participant in and witness to much of the debacle as it unfolded, but I also seemed poised, for good or ill, to figure in only the fourth serious effort in American history to impeach a President. Throughout my West Wing tenure, Trump wanted to do what he wanted to do, based on what he knew and what he saw as his own best personal interests. And in Ukraine, he seemed finally able to have it all.
Bolton confirms what Trump was charged with in the impeachment trial (plus more). Unfortunately for America, Bolton chose not to testify when it mattered to the country, but to speak out in a tell-all book like this for no purpose other than personal profits, as well as viciously getting back at his former boss!
What is even more bizarre is that he chose to defend his indefensible behavior in Chapter 15 (Epilogue) by accusing the House of Representatives for “committing impeachment malpractice”!
What a jerk!
5. Discussion
Once again, nothing in the book should surprise anybody, as it just re-affirms everything widely publicized in the media about this President, as well as continuing the perception of John Bolton as a reckless war-hawk!
John Bolton is not honorable – The image below says it all.
6. Closing
My recommendation: Do not buy the book – It’s not worth it!
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