Bolton's book makes it clear: Trump is the amoral charlatan we knew he was

[Ward Smith + 6,615]

1 hour ago, Jim Profit said:

QmcJd4vKb9v1BzeVCvwWVRrGKdxYf4bGhTH9XGJfhxXAoc

Is Jim offering his hacking Services?

[JoMack + 549]

I'd say the opposite.  Bolton is the charlatan writing a book as a former National Security Advisor telling his opinions and untruths about his time in the WH.  The President is still in office!  I'd like to hear what Henry Kissinger thinks about this man who breaks his NDA as the NSA to fling accusations at a sitting President and his Administration because he is a testy, angry little man who quit when Trump planned to move 50 troops from the NE border of Syria and Turkey.   Let's be honest, the man wanted a war with Iran when it shot down our drone.  He is useless and I'm glad he's out of government.  

[Hotone + 412]

1 hour ago, JoMack said:

I'd say the opposite.  Bolton is the charlatan writing a book as a former National Security Advisor telling his opinions and untruths about his time in the WH.  The President is still in office!  I'd like to hear what Henry Kissinger thinks about this man who breaks his NDA as the NSA to fling accusations at a sitting President and his Administration because he is a testy, angry little man who quit when Trump planned to move 50 troops from the NE border of Syria and Turkey.   Let's be honest, the man wanted a war with Iran when it shot down our drone.  He is useless and I'm glad he's out of government.  

While your characterisation of Bolton may be true, nevertheless, his observations about Trump are spot on. Why don't you read the book and then decide.  I can send you a copy.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Hotone

[JoMack + 549]

10 minutes ago, Hotone said:

While your characterisation of Bolton may be true, nevertheless, his observations about Trump are spot on. Why don't you read the book and then decide.  I can send you a copy.

Sorry, I've seen Bolton in action throughout the years and didn't like him then, and certainly have contempt for him now.

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

On 6/20/2020 at 10:40 PM, frankfurter said:

uh,,, you forgot to include Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, India. 

One of those rare times where Frankfurter, our resident Communist shill, actually got it right. 

There is no excuse for the USA to have truck with abusers.  To do so demeans us. 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

On 6/21/2020 at 1:02 PM, Ward Smith said:

Japanese debt to GDP is epic and they're the only place I know of where you could get a loan that encumbered your grandchildren, not a 30 year mortgage, but a 90 year one. 

At one time, back around 1965, the 90-year mortgage loan was common in California. 

[Marcin2 + 725]

The title of this thread is offtopic as far as quality of US President or any politician is concerned.

Very good politicians are often charlatans or sons of the bit*es straight from hell.

But it does not matter.

US President job is very demanding.

This job is simply  being CEO mixed with COO of the United States of America.

And the most important thing is to recruit the right people.

You recruit the RIGHT people , that is people that can do the job for  the top 10 positions in the Administration ( and these people then can recruit the right people down in the ladder) you automatically win as the processes run smoothly.

You cannot recruit them you lose.

Donald Trump was and is not able to recruit these 10 maybe 20 persons: Top Secretaries in Cabinet, Chief of Staff, Top Advisors, Top Ambassadors.

Or even if he recruits the right people, they are not right for him to get along with cause they naturally are not „YES MEN„.

John Bolton is the prime example.

Was he suitable for the job.

Of course NOT.

Was he the best ( technically , his worldview comes from Ronald Reagan era, something like The Era of Dinosaurs that is already gone) Of Trumps National Security Advisors : YES he was.

His example shows you how basic problems has this administration.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Marcin2
Typo

[Marcin2 + 725]

Next example is Secretary of State.

Rex Tillerson was a great mistake, but Michael Pompeo is not much better.

Both are typical elephants in china store, they know nothing about diplomacy. Was Pompeo ever abroad before becoming Secretary of State ?

[Tomasz + 1,608]

What Bolton told about Russia, Putin and Trump in his memoirs.

The main thing from russian press rbc.ru

Quote

 

The memoirs of the former assistant to Donald Trump on national security John Bolton appeared on sale. In his book, he talks about the most important channel of communication between Russia and the United States and how he found a common language with Sergei Shoigu
On Tuesday, June 23, the United States began selling John Bolton's book, “The Room Where It Happened: The White House's Memoirs.” 71-year-old Bolton served as Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security from April 2018 to September 2019. In 2005-2006, he was the US Permanent Representative to the UN, before that, from 2001 to 2005, he was the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control.

During his time as presidential aide, Donald Trump, Bolton twice visited Moscow. In 2018, in June, he came to prepare for the meeting of the heads of Russia and the United States, which was held in Helsinki, and in October, for talks with President Vladimir Putin, in order to report on the decision of the United States to withdraw from the Treaty on intermediate and shorter-range missiles. Bolton also maintained a dialogue with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. RBC got acquainted with the content of the digital version of the memoirs, which the White House opposed the publication of.

About relations with Russia and Putin

According to Bolton, during the presidency, Trump did not have a clear strategy for behavior in the international arena. “Trump did not adhere to any global strategy or even some common trajectory [behavior]. His thinking resembled a chain of unrelated points, as if it were real estate transactions, and we [in the administration] had to recognize [Trump’s wishes] and prepare specific measures [for their implementation], ”writes the ex- President `s assistant.

The issue of Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election created a negative background in Russian-American relations and served as a constant irritant for the American leader. “Trump believed that accepting Russian interference in US politics <...> would have indirectly recognized that he was involved in a conspiracy with Russia in 2016,” Bolton wrote. The topic of intervention also led to the fact that American politicians refrained from contacts with Russian diplomats. “[Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly] Antonov was a lonely person, as people in Washington were afraid to attract the attention of the public, speaking with the Russians ...” - writes the ex-adviser to the president. US lawmakers and special prosecutor Robert Muller accused Moscow in interfering in the 2016 presidential election in order to strengthen the contradictions and help anti-system candidates. Russia denies any involvement in the intervention .

The only bilateral summit of Trump and Putin was the negotiations in Helsinki in July 2018 (the rest were held during multilateral meetings, for example the G20), which took place on the initiative of the American side. Trump wanted to invite Putin to Washington, but Russia refused this option and as a result the parties agreed on the idea of holding a meeting in Helsinki. According to Bolton, in a private conversation, the Russian leader spoke 90% of the time, and the American acted as a listener. At the same time, both Putin and Trump were most interested in the opportunity to strengthen economic ties and establish contacts between Russian and American businessmen. However, according to Bolton, initiatives in this area were doomed to failure, given "how few companies in the US are truly prepared to dive into the Russian political and economic swamp."

About military contacts with Russia

Nevertheless, the US and Russia managed to establish military contacts. For example, when Trump pondered options for a retaliatory strike against Syrian government forces in April 2018 in response to chemical attacks attributed to Damascus, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces General Joseph Dunford discussed Washington’s intentions with his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov. Then Dunford noted that, striking against Syria, the United States wants to reduce to zero the possibility of victims among the Russian contingent. “Over time, the channel of communication between Danford and Gerasimov has acquired critical importance for both countries. In many cases, it turned out to be a more suitable means for the parties to understand each other's interests and intentions than the usual diplomatic means of communication, ”said Bolton.
Regarding Trump’s opinion of Putin, Bolton notes, the president didn’t talk to him about this. “I never asked what Trump was thinking [about Putin]: probably because he was afraid of what I would hear. His personal views on Putin remained a mystery, ”he wrote.

About arms control

During the presidency of Trump, the United States withdrew from the Medium and Shorter Range Missile Treaty (INF Treaty), and also announced its intention to terminate its participation in the Open Skies Treaty. The third international agreement on arms control is also under threat - the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3).

As the author of the memoir noted, Trump was skeptical from the very beginning of his presidency about bilateral agreements on arms control with Russia. When Bolton was interviewed for the post of Assistant to the President for National Security in 2017 (Herbert McMaster eventually got it), Trump said that he was following his speeches on the INF Treaty and considered it incorrect that the potential of Russia and America was limited by treaties, and the potential of China, Iran or North Korea is not. “I suggested that we tell Putin to adhere to the INF Treaty or we will withdraw [from the agreement], and Trump agreed with this,” he wrote. The president supported the idea of quitting the INF Treaty after Bolton came to the post of National Security Assistant, although he did not fully understand the essence of the agreement. “Trump <...> was in the case [regarding the withdrawal from the INF Treaty],

The US position on the INF Treaty found the greatest understanding among Secretary of Defense Sergei Shoigu. “He <...> said that, given the circumstances, any reasonable person understands the unreality of the INF Treaty because of China and the technological progress made since 1987, when he signed the INF Treaty,” Bolton recalls the contents of his conversation with the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense . “Shoigu supported the idea of amending the treaty so that other [countries] would join, because he believed that only our common enemies would benefit from the [US withdrawal from the treaty],” said Bolton, head of the defense department. By the common enemies of Shoigu, Bolton concluded, he meant China. “I remember how he summed up [our conversation], agreeing that the contract has lost its usefulness. It was the most sensible thought I heard from any representative of Russia, "

About European Allies and NATO

In his memoirs, Bolton talks about Trump's critical attitude towards Germany, the European Union and NATO. In particular, the US president complained in talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that, by agreeing to build the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Germany “feeds the beast,” referring to Russia. NATO countries are constantly asking Washington to impose new sanctions on Moscow, and the Germans themselves “pay Russia billions of dollars” for Nord Stream 2, the American leader complained. “He [Trump] believed that Russia beat us all like fools,” Bolton writes.

In private conversations with advisers, the US president threatened to leave NATO if the Nord Stream 2 project was implemented. “It seemed obvious to me that Trump considers Germany a hostage to Russia,” Bolton says. “He [Trump] has repeatedly wondered why the United States should pay [for helping European countries] if the Allies themselves laugh at us behind our backs and consider us fools,” recalls ex-assistant Trump. The American president also regularly criticized NATO allies for low spending on his defense. He was dissatisfied with Merkel’s forecast, which claimed that Germany would be ready to bring the level of military spending to 2% of its GDP only by 2030.

Among the main US allies in Europe, Bolton named the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte. “Rutte <...> emphasized that he always considered Trump to be right and that he was able to create a sense of urgency [on the issue of the Allies increasing spending on NATO],” he noted.

On the attitude of Trump to Ukraine

The theme of Ukraine has become one of the most prominent during the presidency of Trump. His decision to delay military assistance to Kiev, in particular, served as a reason for impeachment. This was the third time in history that the House of Representatives upheld the allegations against the incumbent US president.

The memoir tells how the former president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko asked the United States to support his candidacy ahead of the elections in 2019, and also called for sanctions against businessman Igor Kolomoisky. Bolton ignored the request for help with re-election: “I told Poroshenko that if he has any evidence against Kolomoisky, I must submit them to the Ministry of Justice,” he said.

Trump's attitude towards Ukraine became increasingly negative during the presidency. According to Bolton, the influence of his lawyer Rudolf Giuliani, who convinced the president of his "conspiracy theories" about Ukraine’s involvement in the intervention in the US elections in 2016 and in attempts to set up Trump, contributed to this. “It was becoming clearer - not only to me, but to the Director of Russia and Europe at the National Security Council Fiona Hill - that Trump fully accepted Giuliani's point of view that the story of Russian intervention was invented by his rivals within the country [USA] and Ukraine became part of these plans, ”says Bolton.

The fact that Russia was behind the hacking of the servers of the US Democratic Party was reported by the Crowdstrike company hired by the Democrats. She shared this information with the FBI, and subsequently the US intelligence community also charged Russia. However, Trump himself repeatedly denied intelligence findings. He argued that the FBI did not gain access to hacked servers, and that Crowdstrike findings could not be trusted. In an interview with the Associated Press in 2017, Trump said that the owner of Crowdsrtrike is a rich citizen of Ukraine. In addition, the president claimed that the hacked server of the Democratic Party committee could be located in Ukraine.

As a result, as his deputy Charles Kapperman told the ex-assistant, the president refused to engage in dialogue with Ukraine. “They attacked me, I don’t understand why <...>, they wanted to fuck me. They are corrupt, and I do not want to have anything to do with them, ”Bolton quotes Trump. After that, the American leader decided to freeze military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of about $ 250 million. In conversations with Bolton, Trump explained this by his reluctance to pay for help to Kiev. The American leader even tried to force NATO to pay for assistance to Ukraine instead of the United States, since, according to him, Europe is more interested in this than Washington, the memoir says. “Call [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg and let him make NATO pay,” Trump ordered his Vice President Michael Pence, recalls Bolton. The president also complained

In negotiations with the Americans, Putin maintained a tough line on Ukraine’s issue and set out in detail the Russian position on the political and military side of the conflict, Bolton said. “He said that the sale of US military equipment to Ukraine is illegal and that this is not the best way to resolve the conflict,” writes Trump's former adviser. “He [Putin] spoke about Obama’s clear position in 2014: if Russia does not go beyond the annexation of Crimea, then the confrontation in Ukraine will be allowed. However, for some reason, Obama has changed his position, and we are in the current situation, ”Bolton quoted Putin as saying.

 

 

Edited June 27, 2020 by Tomasz

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

[Zhong Lu + 845]

Trump's niece is also adding to the multitude of books on Trump.  Attacking her is gonna be awkward considering that she's Trump's niece.  What are some of you gonna say? She's got bad genes? Was raised in a bad family? 

Edited June 29, 2020 by Zhong Lu

[footeab@yahoo.com + 2,190]

19 minutes ago, Zhong Lu said:

Trump's niece is also adding to the multitude of books on Trump.  Attacking her is gonna be awkward considering that she's Trump's niece.  What are some of you gonna say? She's got bad genes? Was raised in a bad family? 

Every family, extended family all walk in lockstep in your world... 

Give you a hint if you EVER poke your head out of your mothers basement; there is not a single family unit ANYWHERE in this world that works that way even before one gets to extended nieces and friends/family. 

[Zhong Lu + 845]

Pretty sure Trump was emotionally abused as a kid.  His behavior is standard for people with asshole dads.  Note the pathological lying and the utter lack of empathy for people not in his inner circle.

On the other hand, his current marriage has worked out, and he's probably a decent family man.  

Edited June 29, 2020 by Zhong Lu

[frankfurter + 562]

Bolton has disclosed info, breaching his confidentiality oath and smearing his president. Yet he walks free.  Assange had no oath, hacked no servers, has not smeared anyone. Yet he is imprisoned.

 

[frankfurter + 562]

17 hours ago, Zhong Lu said:

Pretty sure Trump was emotionally abused as a kid.  His behavior is standard for people with asshole dads.  Note the pathological lying and the utter lack of empathy for people not in his inner circle.

On the other hand, his current marriage has worked out, and he's probably a decent family man.  

Decent? uh, not to mention infidelity. Trump must have a prenuptial with Melania.  

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

On 6/23/2020 at 1:50 PM, JoMack said:

Sorry, I've seen Bolton in action throughout the years and didn't like him then, and certainly have contempt for him now.

Bolton is the national disgrace.   One of them, anyway.   Washington has this propensity for attracting trash.   

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

2 hours ago, frankfurter said:

Decent? uh, not to mention infidelity. Trump must have a prenuptial with Melania.  

There is no evidence of so-called "infidelity" of Mr. Trump.  And even if there were, it is  none of your business.  Nor of anyone else's.  And leave Melania out of it.  You are being vulgar, with your tawdry allegations. Melania conducts herself with grace and charm.