More than two years after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, former National Security Adviser John Bolton explains in his controversial writing the "room in which the event occurred," justifications for President Donald Trump's position that went against the estimates of US intelligence agencies.

He recalls how he - meaning Bolton - stopped confronting journalists at the White House press center on November 26, 2018, to answer hot questions about Washington's stance on Khashoggi's killing at his country's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2 of the same year.

Bolton attacked reporters who asked him and they repeatedly asked about the recording of the killing, and why the US National Security Adviser had not heard it. Bolton got excited and said, "Why do you assume I listen to this recording, I did not listen to it, what will my listen add to the recording, I do not understand Arabic, how many of you here know Arabic!"

"You are the national security adviser, and this is at the core of your jurisdiction," a journalist replied. "What President Trump said accurately reflects the official position of the United States. I read the transcript of the recording, and we took into account everything that came in it during the killing," he refused. Bolton detailed how this could get to the position expressed by President Donald Trump.

Before the official position

According to the book, and a few days earlier, on November 20, 2018, President Trump read a brief statement on his country's position on the Khashoggi killing, stating that Washington was standing with the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia despite Khashoggi's killing.

"Maybe we will never know the truth about what happened with regard to Khashoggi, but our relations mainly with the Saudi state will remain strong," Trump said.

Trump's position contrasted with the estimates and leaks of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which sources confirmed to the Washington Post and New York Times, the responsibility of the aides of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing.

Bolton states that on October 8, 6 days after Khashoggi’s death, his brother-in-law and chief counselor Jared Kushner asked how we should respond to the growing storm about Khashoggi’s death.

Bolton replied, "My advice was to the Saudis to publish the facts immediately no matter what, and to finish the topic, which Kushner agreed to."

The next day, according to Bolton, he and Kushner - and later Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state - spoke to the Saudi crown prince, stressing the importance of looking very seriously at this issue.

Bolton states that he suggested "sending the Saudi ambassador to Washington to get the facts, then back to give a briefing to us."

Bolton intended to send Ambassador Khalid bin Salman, the younger brother of the Saudi crown prince, assuming he was well aware of the importance of the issue and its rapid interactions within Washington, DC.

Bolton noted that, unlike many other issues, Trump had already decided what the official US response would be to Saudi Arabia, as he will remember in an interview with the 60-minute program that he would not stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia.

As Trump sensed the scale of US political and media attention to the Khashoggi killing, he spoke to King Salman bin Abdulaziz in mid-October and asked him to receive his Foreign Minister Pompeo a few days later. It is believed that Pompeo's trip to Riyadh provided Trump with "some time, and also gave the Saudis a greater opportunity to tell the facts. The Saudis published their version of what happened and dismissed a number of senior officials."

Bolton notes that the Saudi novel "did not satisfy most analysts, and it will not change." Bolton defends his position by saying that Mike Pompeo - not he - dictated to Trump the official statement on the killing, which Bolton sees as "an incomplete text that includes a risk for Trump to harm himself if the facts change in the future."

Bolton claims that he tried to make some changes to the text of the official statement, but Pompeo did not accept that, and it was reported that "the president asked for the statement, and I will send it", which Bolton considered "an execution of orders", and "that can be understood given that Pompeo is a man with a background Military, as he graduated from the famous West Point Academy. "

Early acquaintance

Before Trump issued the official statement of his country’s stance on the Khashoggi killing, the US President spoke with the Saudi crown prince to tell him that the statement was on its way to being issued, saying to him, “We have done a huge job to support you, whether you do it or not, we stand with Saudi Arabia.”

During Trump's discussion with his top aides about how to issue the statement and if he will deliver it himself or issue it from the White House, Trump surprised Bolton and other officials by admitting that his country's stance on Khashoggi’s killing “would divert attention away from Ivanka, if you read the statement,” according to Bolton.

Bolton states that there has been widespread media attention to news related to the use of Ivanka - Trump's daughter and political adviser - her private email in her official government correspondence.

And the White House defended it, saying, "The use of e-mail is completely different from the use of former Secretary of State Trump's rival in the presidential election from Democratic Party Hillary Clinton, who is intensifying her e-mail in government actions."

Bolton describes Trump's anger at his daughter's use of her private mail, and angrily said, "Why didn't you change her phone, all this mess because of that phone."

According to Bolton, Trump asked Pompeo to seek Ben Salman's opinion on what he decided, adding Bolton, "Then we decided to issue a statement, and Pompeo to answer any questions related to the American position, but Trump participated Pompeo in answering the questions, which is something that Trump wants in all cases." .

Bolton defended Trump's stance on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, saying: "From a purely geostrategic standpoint, Trump's stance was the only reasonable stance ... We had great American national interests at stake."

Bolton expressed his fear that the cessation of the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia will lead to the latter's orientation to Russia, especially since the Russian President had stated earlier and frankly during their meeting in Moscow, that "Russia can sell weapons to the Saudis" if Washington stops it.