John Bolton Says Reelection Is 'Only Thing That Mattered' To Trump

Former national security adviser John Bolton claims in his forthcoming book that every decision President Donald Trump has made in office has been “driven by reelection calculations.”

Bolton’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, shared the remarks Friday in a news release promoting the book, which details Bolton’s year and a half working for Trump. The president fired Bolton in September.  

“I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations,” Bolton writes, saying he was often “astonished” by Trump’s singular motivation.

Bolton, one of the most controversial figures in American foreign policy, described Trump as a “president for whom getting reelected was the only thing that mattered, even if it meant endangering or weakening the nation.”

The former adviser also argues in the book excerpts that the House committed impeachment malpractice by leading a trial focused narrowly on Trump’s transgressions with Ukraine, and that the House should have also explored similar foreign policy violations Trump has committed elsewhere. It’s currently unclear what other incidents Bolton has in mind.

But Bolton wasn’t willing to speak out against the president when it really mattered: during Trump’s impeachment trial. At the time, Bolton threatened a legal battle if Congress subpoenaed him and ultimately did not testify in the proceedings. Reports during the lead-up to the impeachment trial alleged Bolton’s opposition to appearing was rooted in a desire to distance himself from being implicated in any crimes. 

Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened,” is scheduled for release June 23.