Bolton accuses Trump of asking Beijing to help re-elect

As the White House tries to block the publication of John Bolton's book, explosive extracts were released to the press on Wednesday, June 17. In the latter, the former national security adviser to Donald Trump accuses the American president of having sought help from China to win his re-election in November.

He recounts that, on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Osaka, in June 2019, Donald Trump had "diverted" the conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping "towards the next presidential election" by pleading with Xi "so that 'make it happen', according to excerpts published simultaneously by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post. 

During this meeting, the American president "stressed the importance of farmers and the increase in Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat on the result of the election", wrote in his memoirs this republican hawk, hostile to multilateralism and willingly go to war.

"Trump's conversations with Xi reflect not only the inconsistencies in his trade policy but also the interconnection in Trump's mind between his own political interests and the American national interest," said John Bolton, who was a security adviser. national from April 2018 to September 2019. 

This conversation between Donald Trump and "countless others" confirmed "fundamentally unacceptable behavior that erodes the very legitimacy of the presidency," he accuses. 

A blasted foreign policy

John Bolton, a figure in American politics, describes embarrassing exchanges between Donald Trump and foreign leaders. 

In a passage from the book, John Bolton thus evokes the dismissal procedure launched in the American Congress by the Democrats against Donald Trump at the end of 2019: if they "had not been so obsessed" by the Ukrainian affair and had taken in account more widely for its foreign policy, the outcome "could have been much different". 

However, he had refused to testify in the House of Representatives, with a Democratic majority. But early excerpts from his memoirs broke out in the impeachment trial in January. The American president had been acquitted by the Senate, with a Republican majority. 

According to the Washington Post, John Bolton expressed concern to Justice Minister Bill Barr "about Trump's willingness to render service to autocrats, including" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Trump administration officials were wavering, according to the former adviser, between deep concern and mockery. In a word slipped to John Bolton at the historic summit between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2018, Mike Pompeo reportedly wrote: "He only tells bullshit." 

Indignation of Joe Biden

Matthieu MABIN: Bolton's book is a "long litany of what opposes him to Trump"

According to these accusations, "Donald Trump is guilty, on numerous occasions, of the offense of abuse of power", summarizes Matthieu Mabin, the Washington correspondent from France 24. He adds that it is "unthinkable that all these files should be explored before the end of the presidential campaign. "

His opponent was quick to react to these extracts. "If these words are proven, this is not only repugnant morally but it is also a violation of Donald Trump's sacred duty to the Americans," said Joe Biden, the former US vice president, in a statement. 

If John Bolton's accounts are true, it's not only morally repugnant, it's a violation of Donald Trump's sacred duty to the American people to protect America's interests and defend our values.

"Why has he repeatedly praised the Chinese government and President Xi while the coronavirus was spreading? Because he wanted to be able to talk about a trade deal with China during his re-election campaign," s is particularly indignant Joe Biden.

Alarmed but also sometimes mocking at his way of managing international relations, several heavyweights of the Trump government, including his foreign minister Mike Pompeo or John Bolton himself, have considered resigning, supports the Washington Post.

These leaks come the day after the Trump administration's legal action was announced to try to block the scheduled publication on June 23 of the book "The Room Where It Happened, A White House Memoir", catapulted to the top sales on the Amazon site. 

With AFP

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