1. THREAD. Bolton has a lot to say about Trump and N Korea in his book. It hasn’t all been reported in the book coverage.
A few highlights from his “Singapore Sling” chapter follow...
A few highlights from his “Singapore Sling” chapter follow...
2. Bolton confirms that Trump was desperate to have the summit with Kim at any price because it would be “great theater,” “an exercise in publicity.” There was no detailed preparation, no formal agenda. He was prepared to sign a “substantive free Communique.”
3. Kim Jong Un asked Trump how he assessed him. Trump said he loved the question and told Kim that he saw him “as really smart, quite secretive, a very good person, totally sincere, with a great personality.”
4. When leaving the meeting, Kim said he was “glad that he and Trump had agreed to follow the ‘action for action’ approach” and asked if lifting UN sanctions would be next. Trump said he was open to it and wanted to think about it. So Kim left with optimistic expectations.
5. On US-ROK joint military exercises, Trump repeatedly complained about how expensive and provocative they are; he saw them as waste of $. So when Kim said he wanted the US to reduce or eliminate exercises, Trump said he would override the generals and do so.
6. Neither Kelly, Pompeo, nor Bolton—who were sitting right there!—were consulted and of course not Mattis (who wasn’t there). No consultations with S Korea either. Trump just gave in to Kim without consulting or notifying anyone.
7. Later on, Bolton notes Trump was “off riffing that he didn’t understand why we had fought the Korean War and why we still had so many troops on the Peninsula, not to mention those war games.”
8. On S.Korea, Bolton criticizes Moon for setting an unrealistic expectation with both NK & the US. Bolton writes: “This whole diplomatic fandango was South Korea’s creation.”
9. Kim likely agrees with Bolton on this point. Kim probably thinks that Seoul oversold & underdelivered. Now Kim is pressuring Seoul to deliver on the sanctions front. But Bolton makes clear Trump also created exaggerated expectations in Singapore.
