BOLTS OF LIGHTNING
Who is John Bolton and what has he said about Trump in his explosive book, The Room Where It Happened?
JOHN Bolton has written a tell-all memoir following his stormy 17-month tenure as President Trump's national security advisor.
Trump has said that Bolton will have a if the tome gets published.
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Here is more on and the 592-page The Room Where It Happened, out next week.
Who is John Bolton and when did he work with Trump?
The 71-year-old Bolton served as 's national security advisor from April of 2018 until September of 2019.
Bolton, the former US Ambassador to the UN, has also served as a political appointee for presidents Reagan and George HW Bush.
He has always been known for his hawkish positions, which has gratified some Republicans but alarmed Democrats.
Bolton wrote in his 2007 memoir Surrender is Not an Option: "State careerists are schooled in accommodation and compromise with foreigners, rather than aggressive advocacy of US interests, which might inconveniently disrupt the serenity of diplomatic exchanges, not to mention dinner parties and receptions."
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He was born in Maryland in 1948 and later attended Yale and Yale Law School.
Bolton joined the National Guard and did not serve in the Vietnam War.
What is The Room Where It Happened about?
The explosive memoir includes a first-person account of how Trump conducts himself in the White House.
The author is critical of the president and much of his senior team, writing that Trump “saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government.”
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He said that Trump typically had only two intelligence briefings a week “and in most of those, he spoke at greater length than the briefers, often on matters completely unrelated to the subjects at hand.”
He also writes that “I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by re-election calculations."
Trump, who is running for a second term, was driven by political calculations when making national security decisions, according to Bolton.
The president last year to help his reelection prospects, Bolton claims.
Trump was impeached for allegedly trying to force political help from Ukraine - and Bolton believes Congress should have expanded the scope of its inquiry.
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The president tweeted Thursday that the book “is made up of lies & fake stories" by a “disgruntled boring fool who only wanted to go to war.”
The White House has asked a federal court to block the book's release.
When was the Ukraine phone call?
It is believed that Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone on July 25, 2019.
During their conversation Trump allegedly asked the newly elected leader to launch a probe into Joe Biden.
Bolton writes in his book that the House should not have focused on the phone call because it was not his "only transgression," according to .
The writer had declined to testify during the impeachment proceedings.
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"Bolton may be an author, but he's no patriot," tweeted Adam Schiff, the Democrat who led the House's impeachment inquiry.
Schiff said Bolton "saved it for a book" instead of testifying.
Why did Bolton quit?
Bolton appeared to be ousted from his post last year following multiple disagreements with Trump.
Trump wrote on Twitter on September 10: "I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House."
"I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning.
"I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week."
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However, Bolton tweeted the same day that "I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, 'Let's talk about it tomorrow.'"
Trump continues to criticize Bolton, and savaged him in a Twitter rampage on Thursday.
"When Wacko John Bolton went on Deface the Nation and so stupidly said that he looked at the 'Libyan Model' for North Korea, all hell broke out," wrote Trump.
"Kim Jong Un, who we were getting along with very well, went 'ballistic,' just like his missiles - and rightfully so."
Trump continued: "He didn’t want Bolton anywhere near him."
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"Bolton’s dumbest of all statements set us back very badly with North Korea, even now.
"I asked him, 'what the hell were you thinking?' He had no answer and just apologized.
"That was early on, I should have fired him right then & there!"
Trump also said recently said that Bolton was dishonest and that .
Bolton
What did Bolton do before working at the White House with Trump?
Bolton served as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and as a commentator for Fox News.
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He was a foreign policy advisor to 2012 presidential candidate Milt Romney.
What is Bolton’s salary?
Bolton had a salary of $183,000 while working as a Trump advisor.
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