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FORMER US NATIONAL security advisor John Bolton has said he thinks North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “gets a huge laugh” over US counterpart Donald Trump’s perception of their relationship.
Bolton spoke to ABC News for his first interview ahead of tomorrow’s release of his tell-all book, which contains many damning allegations against Trump.
When journalist Martha Raddatz asked if Trump “really believes Kim Jong Un loves him,” Bolton replied he could see no other explanation.
“I think Kim Jong Un gets a huge laugh out of this,” Bolton said. “These letters that the president has shown to the press … are written by some functionary in the North Korean Workers Party agitprop office.
“And yet, the president has looked at them as evidence of this deep friendship,” he said, adding that friendship does not amount to international diplomacy.
Bolton also said he does not consider Trump to be fit for office and hopes he is a one-term president.
“I hope (history) will remember him as a one-term president who didn’t plunge the country irretrievably into a downward spiral we can’t recall from. We can get over one term,” he said.
Bolton added that he will vote for neither Trump nor Democrat Joe Biden in the November presidential elections. Instead, he will “figure out a conservative Republican to write in” on the ballot.
Trump’s administration had sought to halt publication of Bolton’s book, but a US judge refused Saturday to block its release, saying it was too late for a restraining order.
‘Last straw’
The Room Where it Happened is Bolton’s portrait of 17 months up close with Trump until he was fired last September.
In his interview, Bolton said he had resigned, noting that the “last straw” for him was when Trump invited the Taliban to Camp David during Afghan peace negotiations.
Bolton’s book, which Trump describes as “fiction”, describes the president “pleading” with Chinese President Xi Jinping during trade negotiations to boost the US president’s chances of re-election.
Moreover, Bolton backs up the allegations at the centre of Trump’s impeachment last year that he pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt to weaken Biden’s presidential bid.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have criticised Bolton for publishing his book, saying he should have instead come forward during the impeachment process.
The House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Democrat Adam Schiff, told NBC’s Meet the Press earlier yesterday that Bolton “indicts himself, for cowardice and for greed” by making his accusations in a book instead of testifying in front of the impeachment hearings.
Republican senator Tim Scott told ABC’s This Week yesterday that he also wished Bolton “would have come into the House under oath and testified”.
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Incredible group of parents, thank you for advocating for our beautiful children
Children start school here at 4 or 5 years of age. We have a census every 5 years, so the statistics are there for how many children need school places, and how many have extra/special needs.
And yet this issue has been ongoing not for years but decades.
If you judge a society by how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable then in this regard our republic is a miserable failure, and shame on successive Education ministers and their civil servants
Would love to know how many of these parents voted for ffg in the recent election
@Brian Molloy: none of them. When you are knee deep in battling the government every day for your basic rights, you tend not to vote for the incumbent government.
@James Smith: you’ll get a woeful boot up the hole if the others get in lol
@Brian Molloy: most of them probably, people in this country don’t like change,good or bad
@Brian Molloy: parents of children with additional & complex needs are often easy prey to the promises of politicians. As a father of 2 kids with autism I know the struggles & the fears. Politicians simply do not care one bit for us & our children.
@Peter Sponge: like the boot in the hole parents are currently getting off the incumbents. Your comment just doesn’t make sense.
@Brian Molloy: the people of Ireland vote for them,
Bigger fool, anyone who believes the Irish government care about these kids.
At the stroke of a pen, a magic money tree appeared for Covid, then Ukraine, then pet projects eg bike shed, children’s hospital and self pay increases. Yes hard work will be involved in correcting these issues for the families, and unfortunately the Gov only put in the hard yards for cover ups.
@paul ruddell: The government will never do enough to support children with special needs or speech delays. Schools may be willing to help by hiring specialized teachers or assistants, but only if funding is provided. Meanwhile, the HSE (Health Service Executive) continues to neglect these children, leaving them on waiting lists for months—or even years.
Time is critical. Every day matters when a child needs speech therapy or a diagnosis. Delays in intervention cause irreversible damage, and once that damage is done, it becomes permanent. This permanence creates lifelong struggles for the child, and parents—along with every family member—are left to shoulder the burden alone. While parents and families fight tirelessly, becoming unsung heroes, the government remains detached, seemingly unaware of the depth of their suffering.
As a parent, I urge others to remember this: Screens and mobile devices cannot replace genuine human interaction and active engagement. Prioritize real communication and meaningful activities—they make all the difference.
I agree with your say
Every single person who gave Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil a vote, this is on you, and the record homelessness numbers this month.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: up yours you haven’t a clue with your flippant comments
These parents are so selfish. Don’t they know we need fighter jets?
A billion spent on aslyum seeker accommodation last year, a hundred thousand euro spent yesterday on deporting 30 people. The money is there but it is being spent on other things to keep the EU happy.
All in the name of protecting the vulnerable, yet truely vulnerable aslyum seekers are lost in the mass, while money being spent on free accommodation but the most vulnerable of our society, children with additional needs cannot be supported or educated in the country they were born and their tax paying parents cannot get support. This is insane, people say voting for fffg, but the opposition would still spend the money, look at social democrats who came out today denouncing the deportations and lack of aslyum accommodation,
Loudmouth Barrett, he would be happy to flood the country with Islamists
@Peter Sponge: Reported you but in the meantime, maybe spend 2 mins thinking about this 1 of your million dum comments. You’ve attempted to antagonise and provoke folks about kids with special needs? You lo lyfe sk-um nugget. Get help.
@James Fields: Peter, jim, dave… you awake? If p .Sponge is already deleted, then I’ll just come after “james” and all your accounts. But seriously, are you paid to troll here? If not, then listen to everyone who tells you….. you need help.
@Peter Sponge: Clearly you know nothing about disability, highly offensive and ignorant comment. Stand with families who have kids with disabilities rather than such ignorance.
Does she not know what their concerns are. Typical of her,as usual .
The government will never do enough to support children with special needs or speech delays. Schools may be willing to help by hiring specialized teachers or assistants, but only if funding is provided. Meanwhile, the HSE (Health Service Executive) continues to neglect these children, leaving them on waiting lists for months—or even years.
Time is critical. Every day matters when a child needs speech therapy or a diagnosis. Delays in intervention cause irreversible damage, and once that damage is done, it becomes permanent. This permanence creates lifelong struggles for the child, and parents—along with every family member—are left to shoulder the burden alone. While parents and families fight tirelessly, becoming unsung heroes, the government remains detached, seemingly unaware of the depth of their suffering.
As a parent, I urge others to remember this: Screens and mobile devices cannot replace genuine human interaction and active engagement. Prioritize real communication and meaningful activities—they make all the difference.
Does she not know what their concerns are. Typical of her. As usual .
Lots of money and accommodation for those who don’t like us very much, but not for Irish children.
Sure we’re a great country.
Sadly this is not new news and each government have been fully aware of this ÿou need a country wide march with families standing together shake the core of them to their utter shame
HSE have loads of managers to compile reports and do assessments. But have rarely met any speech or occupational therapy people for my kid. The field is exclusively women and many go on maternity leave and never return. Or take years off for sabbaticals. Work life balance is great, but we need more people in general in these services and we need it to be gender balanced.
@DAN TEDSON: fathers can take sabbaticals too.
Badly behaved kids, a good clip round the ear is needed
Yeah, I totally agree. Tell me about it. I had to apply to 43 schools to secure a secondary school place in an ASD class for my son, balancing this with full-time work. Despite schools offering online applications for neurotypical students, many demand paper applications for ASD places, forcing me to deliver 12 applications personally. My husband even took a day off work for this nonsense. We’ve had to pay for everything—OT, speech therapy, private tuition, educational assessment—you name it. While the NDT shifts responsibility to parents after a one-hour course. The state offers just 40 summer tuition hours, and HSE assessments are inaccessible. Meanwhile, Sensational Kids faced roadblocks in opening a new Kildare assessment centre. The system is failing our kids.
T-h-e-r-a-p-i-s-t is a banned word on this platform?
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