Trump Says Bolton Is A ‘Criminal’ Who Should ‘Go To Jail’ For Publishing Classified Information In New Book

In an interview with Fox News Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that former National Security Adviser John Bolton is a “criminal” who should “go to jail” for leaking classified government information in his new memoir about the Trump administration.

Trump commented that Bolton was “a stupid guy” who had “no heart,” citing that the former national security adviser had suggested “the Libyan model” for North Korea, which infuriated Kim Jong-un.

“Look, this is a guy with no personality. All he wanted to do was drop bombs on everybody… He was one of the many people that got us into the war in the Middle East which was a big mistake,” the president continued.

Bolton, who left the White House in September 2019, refused to testify in Trump’s Senate impeachment trial unless compelled by a court. Bolton unleashed a litany of misconduct allegations against the president in his 592-page memoir, including that Trump tried to enlist the assistance of Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him win the 2020 general election.

“I fired him,” Trump said. “And I didn’t think it was a big deal. And I wasn’t around him very much… He took classified information and he published it during a presidency… I believe that he’s a criminal, and I believe, frankly, he should go to jail for that,” Trump said.

Bolton’s book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, was released Tuesday.

The Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to block the publication of the book in June, after parts were leaked by media outlets, arguing that it contained confidential government information.

The Justice Department filed a temporary restraining order against Bolton trying to block the book’s publication. On Saturday, a U.S. District judge green lighted the publication of the book but hammered Bolton for including sensitive information.