An impeachment trial, the coronavirus crisis, mass protests in all 50 states, the threat of a serious recession. The administration of a U.S. president has not simultaneously experienced so many disasters in a long time. And all this during an election year!
The release of a memoir by former National Security Advisor John Bolton has presented another challenge for the Trump administration.
During the impeachment trial in Congress, Bolton refused to testify against Trump. So why cause a scandal now? And what consequences could ensue from the revelations by Trump’s former adviser?
The ‘Yes Men’ Team
No former national security advisor has ever published memoirs so soon after leaving the position, and moreover, during the term of an incumbent president. There is no doubt that Bolton deliberately sought to time the publication before the election with the simple aim of taking revenge on Trump. It is worth recalling over the course of his three years in office, Trump has changed his national security advisors five times.
No White House leader to date has ever displayed such inflexibility. Due to Trump’s peculiar psychological makeup, he very seldom seldom breaks up peacefully with former colleagues, and often these political “divorces” occur amid utter conflict. This is exactly what happened when Bolton was fired.
And that’s why he decided to write a book: to hurt Trump.
Reading between the lines, the reason for Bolton’s dismissal, which he spoke about back in September, becomes even more obvious: Trump’s inability to hear other points of view. It seems the current president does not expect a critical view from his team, but only agreement and support, so he surrounded himself only with “yes men.”
In his book, Bolton quotes former Chief of Staff John Kelly, who told an interviewer last year that he had advised Trump not to surround himself with such people.
“I said, whatever you do, don’t hire a ‘yes man,’ someone who won’t tell you the truth. Don’t do that. Because if you do, I believe you will be impeached,” Kelly said.
Even though the president did not listen to Kelly’s advice, he avoided conviction on impeachment charges.
It seems that Trump’s entourage now consists of his admirers, sincere or forced, ready to comply with any requests made by the 45th president.
Sparing no words in describing this environment, Bolton writes that he started to work in complete chaos, where key members of Trump’s team had no management experience and their first governmental position was immediately at the highest level: in the White House.
According to Bolton, Trump’s foreign policy is based on instinct and personal contact with foreign leaders. “The so-called showmanship has never left Trump’s repertoire,” writes Bolton.
Indeed, Bolton’s book, no matter what we think about its author, is extremely important in terms of understanding the decision-making mechanisms of the top diplomatic leadership of the United States. It reveals Trump’s constant personal miscalculations and inability to accept other points of view from competent and experienced people.
At War with Everyone
The former Trump adviser was considered an ambiguous figure even before the book’s publication. In Washington and in the American media, Bolton is justly called a hawk because of how implacable he is and because of his desire to involve the United States as much as possible in resolving conflicts in other countries.
Moreover, he has always been known as a rather abrupt, confrontational person. But after the publication of his book, his reputation got even worse.
For Republicans and Trump supporters, Bolton is now, undeniably, a traitor because he ignored the White House’s request as well as that of the Trump campaign to withhold publication of his book and released it anyway. Yet at the same time, the publication of the book has damaged his image among Trump’s opponents! From this point forward, Democrats now not only oppose him, but consider him unpatriotic.
Last fall, Bolton refused to testify voluntarily during the impeachment procedure, as he played for time in order to be subpoenaed. Nevertheless, he never appeared before Congress. But despite his refusal to testify under oath, Bolton decided to provide long-awaited testimony in a book for a fee of several million dollars!
Top-ranking Democrats speculated that if Bolton had testified before the Senate, it would have tipped the scales in favor of impeachment. For Americans who are sensitive about the nature of justice, this is a questionable strategy.
Bolton’s book contributes to another problem: It harms his own country.
Bolton has obviously done a disservice not only to Trump, but the U.S. government and diplomatic corps, as he reveals the details of U.S. negotiations with world leaders, something that is forbidden when it comes to diplomacy.
But the key question remains. Why didn’t Bolton testify in Congress during Trump’s impeachment trial? Bolton’s formal answer is that he claimed that as a former administration official, he could not freely testify unless the congressional intelligence committee subpoenaed him (although according to his colleagues, this was not the case).
However, one can find another reason reading between the lines of Bolton’s book. Being conservative, Bolton did not not want to be an actor in a political game played by Democrats. Bolton accuses the managers of impeachment of overpoliticizing the whole process, which doesn’t align with the ideals of the Founding Fathers, but rather exclusively with party politics.
Therefore, having profited from the book’s publication, Bolton resigned himself to criticism from both political camps.
Why All This?
It should be noted that the book gives the impression that Bolton really enjoyed the role of the national security advisor, the complexity of the tasks involved and the adrenaline rush he got from the level of responsibility.
In fact, Bolton still agrees with Donald Trump on a number of international issues: the tough stance on Iran, the U.S. withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Paris climate agreement, among other issues.
However, it seems that Bolton simply did not like Trump’s way of doing politics and his desire to act contrary to protocol.
Otherwise, what benefit did Bolton get from the publication of his book and an open confrontation? Besides the financial interest, of course.
After Bolton stopped working as national security advisor, apparently his main motivation was a personal disdain for Trump. In particular, Bolton said he did not consider the information in the book to be classified; rather, he considered it be harmful to Trump’s image.
Bolton has openly said he does not want Trump to win a second presidential term. Hence, the following question: how will all this affect presidential election campaign?
The impact of this book, which has already gone on sale, should not be overestimated.
It is unlikely that it will directly affect the presidential campaign, at least because the urgent issues on the current U.S. agenda range from the COVID-19 pandemic to the Black Lives Matter protest.
However, by pulling so many skeletons out of the White House closet, Bolton’s book could additionally weaken Trump’s team.
And in the run-up to the election, that could provide an additional way of putting pressure on Trump himself.
Vladislav Faraponov is an expert with the think tank Ad astra.
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