Name? John Bolton
Westphalian identity? United States of American
Age? 71
Why is he in the news? Bolton’s latest book “The Room Where It Happened” is currently No. 1 on Amazon’s US charts, a week before its scheduled release.
Why do we care? Amidst his weird and circuitous telling of his time in the White House, Bolton has reinforced what we’ve stated countless times before: Trump’s decision making is solely driven by the question “What will get me re-elected?”. Trump’s blatantly transactional approach to international (and domestic) affairs is on full display in Bolton’s recount.
Why should you care? Well, now you’ve got another book to read to during your Coronacation. As detailed yet uncoordinated as the writing may be, Bolton’s book is proving an interesting read with such revelations Trump not knowing the UK was a nuclear power or if Finland was a part of Russia, and Trump’s opinion that it would be “cool” to invade Venezuela…
Who else cares? Xi Jinping as the memoir bolsters his image as a planned and powerful leader. According to Bolton, Xi flattered President Trump over grilled steak (quite literally buttering him up) before steadily going through a number of issues that (again, according to Bolton) Trump had no objection to. Some of these include a nod to the US having too many elections and Xi’s plans to build mass detainment centres.
Any further comments? The Justice Department has sought an emergency order to block the release of the memoir. This comes after the administration filed a lawsuit against Bolton on Tuesday. Their primary argument is that Bolton breached his nondisclosure agreement in aiming to publish a book with classified information. Unfortunately for them, they’ve already lost in that the media has copies and any attempt to stop the spread of the book will come off as ‘trying to censor or silence the media;’ not exactly something they’ll get away with…
