Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton revealed Trump’s ‘mistrust’ of his office and his own staff in an exclusive DW interview. He also claimed Trump envies ‘big guys’ like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
John Bolton on Conflict Zone
Four months before the next US presidential election, Donald Trump’s poll numbers are in a slump. Disaffected conservatives call him incompetent and are campaigning against the Republican president, citing the upward curve of new coronavirus cases in the US, the millions of unemployed Americans, and the protests and racial tension in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. They echo Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who says Trump’s leadership is inadequate.
One of his three former national security advisors, John Bolton, joined DW’s Tim Sebastian to discuss his impressions of President Trump on Conflict Zone.
The picture Bolton paints in his latest book, “The Room Where It Happened,” is filled with disturbing takes of the current US president: dubious offers to strongmen Trump admires and a president who does not even read, let alone study briefing materials on complex national security issues.
Bolton characterizes White House infighting as part of Trump’s managerial style. “I think that Trump is very mistrustful of not only the bureaucracy as a whole, but even his own staff.”
“He still hasn’t fully appreciated what it means to be president of the United States,” Bolton added.
Bolton says President Trump envies other ‘big guy’ leaders like Vladimir Putin
Putin envy
When asked about Trump’s admiration of dictators, Bolton demurred: “I’m not a shrink, I don’t psychoanalyze people.”
But he did offer this: “Trump, in a sense, envied the Xi Jinpings and the Vladimir Putins. He liked talking to ‘big guys.’ You know, ‘big guys’ get together and they do ‘big guy’ things. I think it was that simplistic.”
Does Trump fear the Russian president, Sebastian asked.
“I don’t think he’s scared of him,” Bolton answered, and cautioned against exaggeration.
“There’s plenty to criticize, but when people stretch beyond what they need to to make the criticism, it doesn’t strengthen the case against Trump; it weakens it. It emboldens many of his supporters to say we’re victims of a conspiracy.”
Was obstruction of justice a way of life by Trump as Bolton writes in his book? “I am not a prosecutor,” Bolton said, but added he had reported questionable decisions to the attorney general and White House legal counsel.
Bolton said fewer US officials are now prepared to disagree with Trump.
“The number of people in inside the government who were willing to challenge Trump on a number of these issues has diminished over time.”
The veteran public servant said it was too easy to criticize or “virtue signal.”
“The duty that one owes to the Constitution, faced with this kind of president isn’t simply to make yourself feel good by issuing virtuous pieties, but really more by trying to get the right thing done.”
“If you if you don’t want to carry out an order, the responsible thing to do is to resign,” he added.
DW NEWS
