Hours after portions of former National Security Adviser John Bolton's book that painted a poor picture of President Donald Trump were made public, the president went on television and tore into the ex-administration official.
"He broke the law, very simple," Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity Wednesday night. "I mean, as much as it's going to be broke. This is highly classified. That's the highest stage. It's highly classified information and he did not have approval. That's come out now very loud and very strong."
Trump was referring to Bolton's book, "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir," in which he accused the president of misconduct by way of asking China's President Xi Jinping to help him get reelected, making decisions based on his family and winning another term in office, and rarely paying attention during intelligence briefings, among other claims.
Bolton worked in the Trump White House from April 2018 to September 2019.
"He was a washed-up guy," Trump told Hannity. "He couldn't get Senate-confirmed. So I gave him a non-Senate-confirmed position. I could just put him there, see how we worked. And I wasn't very enamored."
Regarding the China claim, which Bolton said involved Trump asking Xi to purchase more U.S. soybeans and wheat in order to help convince American farmers to back Trump for another term, Trump defended his record of dealing with China and Russia.
"Well, first of all, nobody has been tougher on Russia or China than I have. Nobody even close," Trump said. "China's paying us billions of dollars a year. They never gave us 10 cents [before], and [Joe] Biden's son walked away with a billion and a half dollars to manage, making hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars on it."
He also tore into Bolton regarding the Iraq War because of the positions he held under President George W. Bush — Bolton was under secretary of state for arms control and international security affairs from 2001 to 2005 and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006.
"He went into the Middle East. He was one of the big guns for, 'Let's go into Iraq,' and that didn't work out too well," Trump said.
Around 1 a.m. Thursday, Trump continued the onslaught with a tweet that read, "Wacko John Bolton's 'exceedingly tedious'(New York Times) book is made up of lies & fake stories. Said all good about me, in print, until the day I fired him. A disgruntled boring fool who only wanted to go to war. Never had a clue, was ostracized & happily dumped. What a dope!"
Bolton is one of several former Trump administration officials who have accused the president of various things, a list that includes retired Gens. James Mattis and John Kelly. In December, the House voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in regards to allegations that he used his office for political purposes during dealings with Ukraine. He was acquitted in the Senate trial that followed.
Bolton's book is slated to hit store shelves on June 23, although the Trump administration has filed a lawsuit to block its release over claims that it contains classified information. Bolton's team said the government's review of the book is finished and that the necessary edits were made.
Earlier this week, Trump said that every conversation he has is "highly classified."
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