US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described former White House national security adviser John Bolton as a "traitor," after Bolton accused President Donald Trump in a book of making a serious mistake and said he was not worth the job.
"It is unfortunate and dangerous at the same time that John Bolton's latest role was that of a traitor who harmed America when he violated sacred trust between him and her people," Pompeo said in a statement.
Pompeo denounced what he described as Bolton's "lies" who was preparing to publish a book in which he strongly criticized President Donald Trump.
He said, "I have not read the book, but according to the published extracts, John Bolton publishes a number of lies, half-truths and others that are completely false."
"To all our friends all over the world," Pompeo said, "You know that President Trump's America is a force for good in the world."
In an excerpt from an interview published Thursday, Bolton declared that Trump was "not qualified for the presidency".
Speaking of Trump in an interview to be published in full on the weekend, Bolton said, "I don't think he is qualified for the position, I don't think he has the competence to take this position."
The Trump administration is striving to stop publishing Bolton's book, "From the Event Hall: Memoirs from the White House," confirming that the book contains information that is classified in the strictest secrecy.
In the book, excerpts of which were published in three newspapers on Wednesday, Bolton wrote that Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help re-elect him, and expressed his support for Beijing's policy of collective imprisonment for Uighur Muslims and other minorities.
Bolton cited Trump's engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying that Trump was focusing on "an opportunity to take a picture and the press reacted to it" rather than focusing on long-term US interests.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump rejected Bolton's thunderous remarks. He wrote in a Thursday morning tweet that "Bolton's book (...) is a set of false lies and narratives, all with the aim of showing me badly."
On Tuesday, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to prevent Bolton from publishing his book, expected on June 23, in which he paints a very grim picture of the Republican president and how he is governed.
The lawsuit says that Bolton did not obtain approval of the entire text, which makes his author "a clear violation of the agreements he signed as a condition of his employment and access to highly classified information."