John Bolton hits Trump and his family in private meeting with investors

John Bolton, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, indicated to a closed-door audience that Trump’s approach toward Turkey was motivated by what was best for Trump personally, NBC News reported on Tuesday. Bolton made the statements last Wednesday at a Morgan Stanley global investment event in Miami.

According to NBC’s sources, “Bolton said he believes there is a personal or business relationship dictating Trump’s position on Turkey because none of his advisers are aligned with him on the issue.”

During the 2016 campaign, Trump himself admitted to having a financial conflict of interest when it comes to Turkey.

“I have a little conflict of interest ’cause I have a major, major building in Istanbul,” Trump told Breitbart in 2015. “It’s a tremendously successful job. It’s called Trump Towers — two towers, instead of one, not the usual one, it’s two.” (It is impossible to verify Trump’s claim about the success of the venture because Trump regularly lies and refuses to release his taxes.)

The NBC report also said Bolton described Trump as inept when it came to foreign policy, and questioned the effectiveness of Trump using his business experience to deal with global situations. Bolton “painted a dark image of a president and his family whose potential personal gain is at the heart of decision-making,” NBC reported.

In addition to holding a low opinion of Trump, Bolton took jabs at Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump’s daughter and son-in-law who are both senior advisers in the White House, guests at the event told NBC.

Those present did not recall Bolton discussing Trump’s current scandal involving Ukraine, which is the subject of a congressional impeachment inquiry.

NBC reported that Bolton also responded to a question about what Trump’s foreign policy could look like if he wins reelection in 2020. Bolton, who seems to hold Trump in low regard despite serving in his administration for 17 months, suggested Trump could withdraw the United States from NATO, an alliance with Europe dating back to 1949 at the end of World War II.

Bolton was invited to testify before the House of Representatives to discuss what he knows about Trump’s alleged extortion attempts with regard to Ukraine. Bolton has thus far refused to tell Congress what he knows.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.