In recent days, President Donald Trump has casually asked administration officials and close advisers if John Bolton—his former national security adviser who is releasing a new, tell-all book about working in the Trump administration—is prison-bound, three sources with knowledge of his private inquiries tell The Daily Beast.
“Do you think he’s going to go to jail for this?” Trump said, according to one of the people who’ve heard him ask this…
Behind closed doors, current and former administration officials are confirming some of Bolton’s allegations, including the claim that President Trump is indifferent to what has been described as crimes against humanity and cultural genocide taking place in China’s western Xinjiang province. Three current and former national security officials say it was well-known that the president was predominantly interested in maintaining a good relationship with Xi to garner commitments from China for purchases of U.S. agricultural goods, which Trump believed would help his reelection…
“Part of the reason Bolton’s excerpts were not surprising is because everyone who does China trade stuff knew and thought that all the president cared about was agricultural purchases,” said one former Republican national security official. “And it was very clear why they mattered to him.”
