Bolton says Trump nowhere near Putin’s level of preparation for meetings

Moscow, June 22: Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares very thoroughly for all meetings, unlike his US counterpart, Donald Trump, for whom this level of “thoroughness” is just out of character, ex-US National Security Advisor John Bolton told ABC News.
The interview comes a day before the scheduled release of Bolton’s memoir “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” which portrays Trump as a weak president easily manipulated by other leaders. Earlier, the Kremlin rejected Bolton’s claims that Putin can play Trump “like a fiddle,” saying that the Russian president does no see his US counterpart as an easily influenced person. “President Putin prepares very comprehensively for meetings.
He knows the people he’s talking to. He thinks about what he wants to say. He thinks about the points he wants to accomplish ? I think that’s a level of preparation, of thoroughness — of — pre-planning that just would not register with Donald Trump,” Bolton said in the interview, published on Monday.
According to the ex-national security advisor, the high level of preparation does not necessarily mean that “Putin succeeds all the time, but he has a plan and he pursues it.” Last week, the US administration filed a lawsuit against Bolton to prevent publication of his book, which it says contains certain classified information about current events and policy issues.
The bid to block it, however, has been rejected by the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia. Trump himself slammed the book as nothing but “lies and fake stories” made up by an “incompetent” and “disgruntled” fired official.
Bolton, who served as national security adviser from April 2018, was ousted by Trump in September 2019, following a tenure characterized by his opposition to the president’s efforts to negotiate with North Korea and later with Iran and an unsuccessful effort to force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of office.

(AGENCIES)

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