Bolton calls Trump "naive and dangerous" and hopes he will be remembered as single-term president

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
• Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)

Bolton revelations about Trump ignite Washington 3:08

Washington (CNN) - John Bolton, a former White House national security adviser, called President Donald Trump "naive and dangerous" in an ABC News interview that aired on Sunday, adding that he hopes his former chief will be remembered as a single-term president.

The remarkable statement made by a former key adviser to the incumbent President of the United States comes after details of Bolton's next book, "The Room Where It Happened," were leaked this week even though it remains the focus of a dispute. legal in progress.

"I hope (history) remembers him as a single-term president who did not irretrievably plunge the country into a downward spiral from which we will not be able to retreat. We can overcome a mandate. I am absolutely confident, even if it is not the miracle that a conservative Republican was elected in November. As for two terms, I'm more concerned, ”Bolton told Martha Raddatz of ABC News.

Regarding the president, Bolton said: "I do not think he is fit for office. I don't think I have the competence to get the job done. I don't think he is a conservative Republican. I will not vote for him in November. I certainly won't vote for Joe Biden either. I'm going to find a conservative Republican to vote for. ”

READ : What we discovered with John Bolton's surprising account of when he worked with Trump

"Naive and dangerous"

Bolton elaborated on many of the key themes described in his book, including Trump's affinity for authoritarian leaders, such as North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, who the former national security adviser says has become a threat despite the approaches of the President.

"The idea that only this oily layer of compliments to this brutal dictator would convince him that he could come to terms with Donald Trump ... I thought he was surprisingly naive and dangerous," Bolton told ABC News.

"The threat from North Korea today is absolutely greater. Because as long as all photo opportunities were taken, there is no doubt that North Korea's work on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs continued. It is one of the most secret societies on the planet, ”she said.

Bolton, an expert on North Korean politics, said he did not believe the regime "had slowed down a bit during these two years of negotiations. So, like Obama's eight years, we just lost another two or three years. And North Korea and Iran and other rebel state capabilities continue to move forward. "

Kim was also able to manipulate Trump, Bolton says in his book.

Bolton writes extensively about his disagreements with Trump's approach to North Korea before, during, and after the Singapore summit with Kim, which Bolton hoped to "collapse" before it occurred and compared it to the appeasement of Nazi Germany, including quoting Winston Churchill.

"All the diplomatic fandango was the brainchild of South Korea," Bolton writes, "in relation more to its 'unification' agenda than to a serious strategy on Kim's part or ours."

Despite objections from his advisers, Bolton writes that "Trump was desperate to have the meeting at any cost."

Bolton later writes that Kim had "hooked" Trump at the Singapore summit while flattering each other at their meeting.

READ : Judge denies attempt by Trump government to block publication of John Bolton's book

When Trump told Kim that he would seek Senate approval for any nuclear deal, Bolton writes that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo passed Bolton a note saying "he's so full of shit." Bolton suggests that Pompeo was referring to Trump, not Kim.

And Trump's interactions with Kim were not the only cases that raised concerns for Bolton, who said he was surprised at how the president was eager to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other autocrats.

"I think there was the same fascination with talking to a leader like Putin that we saw regarding Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un. It was difficult to explain. The President himself used to comment on how strange it was that on a trip he attended a NATO summit, a summit with Theresa May, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and then with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, and that he thought the easiest and It could be pleasant with Vladimir Putin. ”

In his ABC News interview, Bolton said he believed Putin thinks he can play Trump "like a fiddle."

"I think Putin is smart, tough. I think you can see that you are not facing a serious adversary here. I don't think he's worried about Donald Trump, "said Bolton.

Trump has previously claimed that no other president has been tougher on Russia than he has, but that claim has been challenged by several of his own advisers, in addition to Bolton.

In his new book, Bolton writes that he was concerned about leaving Trump alone in a room with Putin during the 2018 Helsinki Summit.

"I didn't know what he would say. At any moment, we didn't know what he was going to say. Now, it turned out, and I say it in the book, I feel very confident that nothing bad happened in the one-on-one meeting. But that means we escaped from the meeting without injury. That does not help American interests. I mean, it's better than damage. But it certainly doesn't help in the interests, "he says.

The press conference in Helsinki, during which Trump, along with Putin, refused to endorse the assessment of the US Government. that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, was particularly shocking to Bolton and other top officials.

"I thought I wouldn't get up. I didn't know what to do… I thought Dan Coats, then director of national intelligence, was close to resigning, ”Bolton told ABC News.

LOOK : Putin says Trump is not manipulable, contrary to what John Bolton's book says

Persistent impeachment questions

Bolton dedicates his final chapter to the Ukraine issue, in which he participated in several key meetings, including some described by other witnesses during the impeachment process. But Bolton made an accusation in the book that no impeachment witness made: that he directly heard Trump link the withholding of U.S. security aid to an investigation into the Biden.

“The next morning, August 20, I measured Trump's temperature in terms of security assistance to Ukraine, and he said he was not in favor of sending them anything until all of Russia's investigative materials related to Clinton and Biden had been been delivered, ”Bolton wrote.

The former national security adviser reiterated that claim during Sunday's interview with ABC News,

"I have no doubt in my mind that the President felt that the previous Ukrainian government had been part of a conspiracy to overthrow him. He said that on any number of occasions. And what he wanted from the Ukrainians took months to develop. It didn't happen, it didn't happen all at once, ”he said.

Trump "wanted an investigation of Joe Biden in exchange for delivering the security assistance that was part of congressional legislation that had been passed several years earlier. So in his mind, he was negotiating to get the investigation, using the resources of the federal government, which I found very disturbing, "Bolton added.

Still, the lingering question remains: If Bolton was so concerned about Trump's actions, why didn't he speak up, especially during impeachment proceedings?

Democrats in the House of Representatives wanted Bolton to testify last year, but he declined to do so, threatening a legal battle if summoned. Bolton offered to testify during the Senate impeachment trial, but Republicans voted to reject the hearing of any witnesses.

Bolton wrote that the Democrats carried out a hasty and partisan investigation, and accused them of committing "political malpractice" by focusing only on Trump's involvement with Ukraine.

When asked why he did not testify during impeachment during the Sunday interview, Bolton said his testimony in impeachment proceedings would not have mattered.

"I don't think it would have made a difference because of the way Democrats followed the impeachment process in the House," he said.

“I was fully prepared, if I received a subpoena like everyone who testified got a subpoena. I think that the way in which the defenders of impeachment in the House of Representatives proceeded was very wrong. I think it was a bad practice of impeachment. I think they were determined due to their own political goals to carry out a impeachment process that focused very closely on Ukraine, and that was very, very fast, "Bolton added.

When asked if the President was lying when he tweeted that he never told Bolton that Ukraine had withheld Biden's help, Bolton said he was lying. "If it is. And it's not the first time either. ”

John Bolton