How did Bolton expose ‘Idiot Trump’?

By Batoul Al-Hakim

The latest White House memoir by John Bolton, former U.S. National Security Adviser, “The Room Where It Happened,” reveals shocking secrets and methods of decision making by President Donald Trump that reflect Trump’s mental state and his deep admiration towards authoritarian leaders like the presidents of Turkey, Russia, and China.

Trump, The Fool

John Bolton presented the testimonies of some of Trump’s advisers and other politicians. In the book, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Trump could not be left alone for even an hour, while John Kelly wondered about how he would act if the US has a real crisis like 9/11. Bolton described him as “childlike”, does not care for anything or anyone and always wants the biggest toy. He is delighted by the simplest words of praise, gets bored easily and likes gossip. Bolton also described him as “stunningly uninformed”, asking if the UK is a nuclear power or if Finland was part of Russia.

Axis of Adults

Bolton calls Trump’s Secretary of State, Defense Secretary, Director of his Office, National Security Adviser and Treasury Secretary, the “axis of adults”, a few of his rational advisers who decide America’s fate.
Bolton also revealed Trump as the first anti-Kurdish American president, despite all the high hopes that the Kurds had placed on his administration when he was elected in 2016. Bolton explains that the president dislikes the ethnic minority, despite its support to the US and it’s values of diversity and tolerance, providing a safe haven for the Christian and Yazidi minorities. However, apparently, Trump’s circle prefers the sectarian extremist nationalist regime in Turkey and anti-Kurdish groups.
The books also revealed that Trump expected Arab countries to pay 25% of the cost of the presence of American forces in Syria and Iraq, to raise it later to 50%. Trump’s withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria presented one of the pillars of his foreign policy, which led to frequent clashes within his administration.

Syria’s Chemical Weapons

Bolton said in his book that the American administration was aware of the regime’s use of chemical weapons in Douma, Eastern Ghouta, days before it happened. Bolton suggested to Trump that their retaliation should be decisive by threatening an attack on Bashar Al-Assad’s palace, but that did not happen.
In his memoir, Bolton expressed his belief that the Iranian nuclear threat is the most dangerous threat the US is facing, since it is driven by the ideology of Tehran’s leaders. Analysts believe that Iran’s nuclear advancement would inspire countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia to acquire a nuclear arsenal.
Bolton described Turkish president Erdogan as a radical Islamist who is preoccupied with transforming Turkey from a secular to an Islamic state, in addition to his clear hostility towards Israel and his support for the Muslim Brotherhood. Trump, however, seems to overlook these issues, considering Erdogan as one of his closest friends.
He also addressed Trump’s approval of the extreme measures that China has taken against the Uighur Muslims, with the Chinese government building detention camps with over a million people detained there.

Venezuela is Ours

According to Bolton, Trump aspires to invade Venezuela because of its government’s opposition to Washington, saying that “it would be ‘cool’ to invade Venezuela” and considering it “really part of the United States”.
Bolton also criticized the Democrats, who focused on Trump’s suspension of military aid to Ukraine with the aim of isolating him, arguing that if they have changed their strategy, many Americans would have been convinced that Trump should be removed from office for his crimes and misdemeanor. Trump refused to send any aid to Ukraine until all Russian investigation materials related to Hillary Clinton and John Biden had been delivered.
Bolton indicated that during the impeachment investigation, Congress should have investigated President Trump not only on the issue of Ukraine, but on other serious cases like seeking to use trade negotiations and criminal investigations to advance his political interests.