John Bolton former national security adviser said President Donald Trump is not “fit for U.S. President’s office” while adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks he can “play him like a fiddle.”
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“I don’t think he’s fit for office. I don’t think he has the competence to carry out the job,” Bolton told ABC News chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz in a video clip that was released on Thursday ahead of a full interview that will be aired on Sunday.
Bolton said that Trump’s only focus is reelection. “Longer-term considerations fell by the wayside.”
BREAKING: “I don’t think he’s fit for office,” former national security adviser John Bolton says of Pres. Trump. “I don’t think he has the competence to carry out the job.”
Watch more from Bolton’s interview with @MarthaRaddatz Sunday at 9|8c. https://t.co/rTfQLohwWQ pic.twitter.com/ZtxD98iwyh
— ABC News (@ABC) June 18, 2020
In a different clip, Bolton said Russian President Putin is “smart” and “tough,” and thinks he can play Trump “like a fiddle.”
“When you’re dealing with somebody like Putin, who has made his life understanding Russia’s strategic position in the world, against Donald Trump, who doesn’t enjoy reading about these issues or learning about them, it’s a very difficult position for America to be in,” Bolton revealed.
.@MarthaRaddatz: “How would you describe Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin?”
John Bolton: “I think Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle.”
Watch more from the exclusive interview this Sunday at 9|8c on ABC. pic.twitter.com/VALmx3Z0f0
— ABC News (@ABC) June 17, 2020
Bolton’s controversial memoir of his 17 months experiences while working with the Trump administration, titled “The Room Where It Happened,” is scheduled to be released next week.
He discloses among other things in the book that Trump sought Chinese President Xi Jinping’s help to win the November election and encouraged China’s leader to construct “concentration camps” to detain Uighur Muslims.
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Trump has railed against the book and its publication, calling Bolton a “liar” and claiming that everyone in the White House hated him while he was with them. The Department of Justice has launched a legal challenge seeking to block the publication of the book, claiming the memoir contains classified information.
Exposing Trump now has brought Bolton serious backlash for not speaking out against his abuses of power at the time when it was most necessary and for failing to cooperate with House Democrats in Trump’s impeachment process.
A source said Bolton has already bagged a $2 million advance for the book that is yet to be released.