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2.71 AVERAGE
2.71 AVERAGE
Arrogant ass did nothing to stop any of the problems.
‘Has there ever been a presidency like this?
As soon as I saw President Trump’s reaction to the publication of this book, I added it to my reading list. I am no fan of John Bolton, but the Trump reaction had me wondering. Especially as President Trump hired John Bolton in the first place. He was not calling him ‘Wacko John Bolton’ (or ‘a sick puppy’) back then.
And now I have read the book, it confirms everything else I have read about the dysfunctional Trump administration. But back to the book. John Bolton was President Trump’s National Security Advisor for 453 days. He was very well placed to comment on what took place in and around the Oval Office during that period.
Mr Bolton’s descriptions are of chaos and conflict. He describes dysfunctional working arrangements, and a President so focussed on the personal that he seems incapable of any strategic long-term considerations. It seems, too, that President Trump has little understanding (and less respect) for the way in which international alliances and relationships work.
There’s example after example of poor judgment, and example after example of self-aggrandizement. Read about lost opportunities, misjudgements, and policy announcements via Twitter. Add in turmoil and conflict, ego and ignorance. This book was vetted before publication and, while it no doubt contains information embarrassing to the Trump Administration, it does not contain any classified information.
I picked the book up and could not put it down. As I am reading it, snippets of Donald Trump’s interviews with Bob Woodward (for his forthcoming book ‘Rage’) are being played on various news media. Everything I hear and see reinforces the picture John Bolton paints of Donald Trump in this book.
‘With Kelly’s departure and Mulvaney’s appointment, all effective efforts at managing the Executive Office of the President ceased. Both domestic policy strategy and political strategy, never strong suits, all but disappeared; personnel decisions deteriorated further, and the general chaos spread.’
This book is worth reading by anyone with an interest in either the Trump presidency or the role of the current US President in international affairs.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
As soon as I saw President Trump’s reaction to the publication of this book, I added it to my reading list. I am no fan of John Bolton, but the Trump reaction had me wondering. Especially as President Trump hired John Bolton in the first place. He was not calling him ‘Wacko John Bolton’ (or ‘a sick puppy’) back then.
And now I have read the book, it confirms everything else I have read about the dysfunctional Trump administration. But back to the book. John Bolton was President Trump’s National Security Advisor for 453 days. He was very well placed to comment on what took place in and around the Oval Office during that period.
Mr Bolton’s descriptions are of chaos and conflict. He describes dysfunctional working arrangements, and a President so focussed on the personal that he seems incapable of any strategic long-term considerations. It seems, too, that President Trump has little understanding (and less respect) for the way in which international alliances and relationships work.
There’s example after example of poor judgment, and example after example of self-aggrandizement. Read about lost opportunities, misjudgements, and policy announcements via Twitter. Add in turmoil and conflict, ego and ignorance. This book was vetted before publication and, while it no doubt contains information embarrassing to the Trump Administration, it does not contain any classified information.
I picked the book up and could not put it down. As I am reading it, snippets of Donald Trump’s interviews with Bob Woodward (for his forthcoming book ‘Rage’) are being played on various news media. Everything I hear and see reinforces the picture John Bolton paints of Donald Trump in this book.
‘With Kelly’s departure and Mulvaney’s appointment, all effective efforts at managing the Executive Office of the President ceased. Both domestic policy strategy and political strategy, never strong suits, all but disappeared; personnel decisions deteriorated further, and the general chaos spread.’
This book is worth reading by anyone with an interest in either the Trump presidency or the role of the current US President in international affairs.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
PoS book. Guy brags the entire time like he’s the only smart one in the Administration
This was a good read. Very detailed but one should expect this from Ambassador Bolton. If he had more pages, he would have been more detailed. I find this not a scathing assault of the Trump administration, but a primary source to back up what we all know is true.
it's good that the stories are out there... but the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend... this guy is awful too....
I have no idea how to rate this book for reasons I will talk about later. The 4 stars are not for the message but for the insight.
Yes The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir does confirm what we knew about Trump and has some really shocking moments, like when he wanted to arrest journalists to force them to disclose their sources. And there are funny moments like when Trump is constantly confusing leaders and making decisions based on his confusion.
But what is shocking is that the real monster in this book is not Trump but John R. Bolton. I knew he was no angel but the way he talks here shocked me to the core. To begin with, he is no less of a megalomaniac than Trump. He alone is always right. He knows anything better than that anyone else in the world. What makes him such a monster is however his view on the status of USA in the world. USA is the police of the world and everyone should serve them and their interests. It is simple to decide what to do. Anything that makes USA more powerful and rich. At any cost.
Trump comes off as a rather peace loving guy while Bolton is constantly sulking because he is not allowed to go to war. He wants to fight everyone. Use military power at all times to force other nations to submit to USA and to enrich USA. This is in fact the reason why I love and hate this book. I hate the message and the man who wrote it but boy does it show the world how disgusting USA can be when it comes to foreign relations. In that way it is a real eye opener.
Yes The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir does confirm what we knew about Trump and has some really shocking moments, like when he wanted to arrest journalists to force them to disclose their sources. And there are funny moments like when Trump is constantly confusing leaders and making decisions based on his confusion.
But what is shocking is that the real monster in this book is not Trump but John R. Bolton. I knew he was no angel but the way he talks here shocked me to the core. To begin with, he is no less of a megalomaniac than Trump. He alone is always right. He knows anything better than that anyone else in the world. What makes him such a monster is however his view on the status of USA in the world. USA is the police of the world and everyone should serve them and their interests. It is simple to decide what to do. Anything that makes USA more powerful and rich. At any cost.
Trump comes off as a rather peace loving guy while Bolton is constantly sulking because he is not allowed to go to war. He wants to fight everyone. Use military power at all times to force other nations to submit to USA and to enrich USA. This is in fact the reason why I love and hate this book. I hate the message and the man who wrote it but boy does it show the world how disgusting USA can be when it comes to foreign relations. In that way it is a real eye opener.
If you want to read this book as a non-stop bashing of Donald Trump’s idiocy, you might be disappointed.
John Bolton is still a very conservative Republican who is in favour of political decisions most of Trump’s enemies or generally politically progressive people cannot wrap their heads around.
Bolton also has a way of talking about foreign countries and leaders that conveys an image of the United states (and maybe Russia and China) being the only country that is powerful and really matters.
And it shows in a lot of what Bolton writes, so take this whole book with a pinch of salt.
So what exactly is this book?
Right what it says on the title. A “White House Memoir”.
Bolton goes through each and every important step that involved him specifically around the time he was part of the Trump administration. Sometimes even going into exhaustive detail concerning specific visits to the UN, Brussels, Moscow, Singapore and the likes..
Now, if you’re not completely caught up with world politics from around 1960 up until 2020 some parts of this memoir might be boring or hard to understand for us “muggles” outside the political bubble.
To come back to my beginning statement that this book is not completely about Trump’s idiocy…. of course there are moments where your eyes and mouth are wide open and you just shake your head, but these are few and far between. If you want those moments I suggest reading a summary on the internet or lending this book but not buying it…
If you want to get a picture of how the Trump administration worked and get a biased opinion on its decisions up until about 2019 this is for you… but think about who is getting your money when you buy this book. It’s John Bolton.
John Bolton is still a very conservative Republican who is in favour of political decisions most of Trump’s enemies or generally politically progressive people cannot wrap their heads around.
Bolton also has a way of talking about foreign countries and leaders that conveys an image of the United states (and maybe Russia and China) being the only country that is powerful and really matters.
And it shows in a lot of what Bolton writes, so take this whole book with a pinch of salt.
So what exactly is this book?
Right what it says on the title. A “White House Memoir”.
Bolton goes through each and every important step that involved him specifically around the time he was part of the Trump administration. Sometimes even going into exhaustive detail concerning specific visits to the UN, Brussels, Moscow, Singapore and the likes..
Now, if you’re not completely caught up with world politics from around 1960 up until 2020 some parts of this memoir might be boring or hard to understand for us “muggles” outside the political bubble.
To come back to my beginning statement that this book is not completely about Trump’s idiocy…. of course there are moments where your eyes and mouth are wide open and you just shake your head, but these are few and far between. If you want those moments I suggest reading a summary on the internet or lending this book but not buying it…
If you want to get a picture of how the Trump administration worked and get a biased opinion on its decisions up until about 2019 this is for you… but think about who is getting your money when you buy this book. It’s John Bolton.
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
I rated this dreck as 2 stars, not 1, for three basic reasons.
The forthrightness of Bolton even when telling repeated packs of lies.
The few new tidbits about Trump, that were part of the reason many #Resistance Democrats were salivating about this.
The fact that Democrats were salivating, given point 1.
OK, on to details. First, Bolton lies like hell on Syria. We know that the Assad govt was NOT behind the Douma or Khan Shaykoun attacks. I’ll take the likes of Robert Fisk as 1,000x more truthful, AND knowledgable on the ground, on issues like this, than Bolton.
Related? Bolton’s big lie by omission about Israeli nukes, of course. (Related to that? His idea that we should formally, in terms of international law, accept Israel’s illegal annexation of the Golan Heights.)
Beyond this, is his overall strident neocon lies, half-lies and shading about anything related to that.
Then, there’s his Wilsonian interventionism, which doesn’t stop with wanting to overthrow Iran.
He thought the US govt should have officially, or at least semi-officially, intervened in Broxit with official “Leave” support. Ye gads! (Later on, he says with a straight face that he’s not a nation builder. Guess he’s just a nation wrecker instead?) And, after that, again with a straight face, he goes on to talk about nation building/wrecking in Venezuela.
As for bits of stuff about Trump? The biggest tell was his claim that, after all his time of personal interaction with Trump, he found Trump’s take on Putin to still be a total mystery. THAT said, I get the distinct impression Bolton didn’t push too hard on trying to figure this out.
Elsewhere? He throws Obama under the bus for not doing MORE about 2016 election meddling, and says so to a clearly rhetorical Trump statement. So, this partially undermines the straight talker schtick.
Makes fun of Finnish place names. Wunderbar from a national security advisor.
Despite Bolton’s sneering about how no US biz would want to invest in Russia, it has a PPP per capita almost 50 percent higher than China. (That said, Russia is considered far more corrupt.)
His churlishness is on display, namely, a churlish backing of American exceptionalism and American warmongering, when he defends Trump not choppering into Belleau Wood, unlike other world leaders, because they don’t command US armed forces might.
On Venezuela, he ignores that his puppet Guaidó, like Maduro, backs a Venezuelan claim to land disputed with Guyana.
On China, is “social credit,” albeit by the government, not private individuals, really THAT different from bank redlining? And is Belt and Road “debt diplomacy” THAT different from World Bank/IMF forced austerity?
Then there’s his push to get Ukraine and even Georgia in NATO. He repeatedly touts Poppy Bush’s years, but ignores that he pledged to Yeltsin not to expand NATO eastward.
His dissing on Mattis and Mnuchin, and a lesser degree on Tillerson, is interesting.
That said, speaking of that, Scott Ritter had this to say about Bolton in light of Trump’s weathervanes in Afghanistan: “One doesn’t take on two decades of systemic investment in military failure that had become ingrained in both the psyche and structure of the U.S. military establishment, fire a popular secretary of defense, and then follow that act up with the dismissal of one of the most vindictive bureaucratic infighters in the business without accumulating enemies.” That “vindictive bureaucratic infighter” can only be Bolton.
The forthrightness of Bolton even when telling repeated packs of lies.
The few new tidbits about Trump, that were part of the reason many #Resistance Democrats were salivating about this.
The fact that Democrats were salivating, given point 1.
OK, on to details. First, Bolton lies like hell on Syria. We know that the Assad govt was NOT behind the Douma or Khan Shaykoun attacks. I’ll take the likes of Robert Fisk as 1,000x more truthful, AND knowledgable on the ground, on issues like this, than Bolton.
Related? Bolton’s big lie by omission about Israeli nukes, of course. (Related to that? His idea that we should formally, in terms of international law, accept Israel’s illegal annexation of the Golan Heights.)
Beyond this, is his overall strident neocon lies, half-lies and shading about anything related to that.
Then, there’s his Wilsonian interventionism, which doesn’t stop with wanting to overthrow Iran.
He thought the US govt should have officially, or at least semi-officially, intervened in Broxit with official “Leave” support. Ye gads! (Later on, he says with a straight face that he’s not a nation builder. Guess he’s just a nation wrecker instead?) And, after that, again with a straight face, he goes on to talk about nation building/wrecking in Venezuela.
As for bits of stuff about Trump? The biggest tell was his claim that, after all his time of personal interaction with Trump, he found Trump’s take on Putin to still be a total mystery. THAT said, I get the distinct impression Bolton didn’t push too hard on trying to figure this out.
Elsewhere? He throws Obama under the bus for not doing MORE about 2016 election meddling, and says so to a clearly rhetorical Trump statement. So, this partially undermines the straight talker schtick.
Makes fun of Finnish place names. Wunderbar from a national security advisor.
Despite Bolton’s sneering about how no US biz would want to invest in Russia, it has a PPP per capita almost 50 percent higher than China. (That said, Russia is considered far more corrupt.)
His churlishness is on display, namely, a churlish backing of American exceptionalism and American warmongering, when he defends Trump not choppering into Belleau Wood, unlike other world leaders, because they don’t command US armed forces might.
On Venezuela, he ignores that his puppet Guaidó, like Maduro, backs a Venezuelan claim to land disputed with Guyana.
On China, is “social credit,” albeit by the government, not private individuals, really THAT different from bank redlining? And is Belt and Road “debt diplomacy” THAT different from World Bank/IMF forced austerity?
Then there’s his push to get Ukraine and even Georgia in NATO. He repeatedly touts Poppy Bush’s years, but ignores that he pledged to Yeltsin not to expand NATO eastward.
His dissing on Mattis and Mnuchin, and a lesser degree on Tillerson, is interesting.
That said, speaking of that, Scott Ritter had this to say about Bolton in light of Trump’s weathervanes in Afghanistan: “One doesn’t take on two decades of systemic investment in military failure that had become ingrained in both the psyche and structure of the U.S. military establishment, fire a popular secretary of defense, and then follow that act up with the dismissal of one of the most vindictive bureaucratic infighters in the business without accumulating enemies.” That “vindictive bureaucratic infighter” can only be Bolton.