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Bolton’s Memoir and the Trump Administration 
US President Donald Trump (left) participates in a press conference with National Security Adviser John Bolton (right) during the NATO Foreign Ministerial in Brussels, Belgium, July 12, 2018. (State Department photo/public domain)

Bolton’s Memoir and the Trump Administration 

Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt, July 4

The battle between US President Donald Trump and his former national security adviser, John Bolton, is truly fascinating. Not merely because it is telling of the chaos in the current US administration but also because of the mutual accusations exchanged between the two men, with Trump describing Bolton as a liar and Bolton describing Trump as incompetent to govern. The former adviser spent months working next to Trump at the White House, fulfilling the same role played by notable individuals like Henry Kissinger, McGeorge Bundy and Condoleezza Rice. When Bolton left, he sat down to reflect on his experiences in the Oval Office and began writing a memoir. This memoir was finally released last week. But the American president put up a fight against Bolton’s book and worked tirelessly to prevent its publication. The formal reasoning was that the book includes confidential material pertaining to US national security. However, the real reason for Trump’s fierce opposition was twofold. First, he feared that Bolton’s book would have a negative impact on his campaign for the upcoming presidential elections, as it would paint the Trump Administration in a negative light. Second, Trump recognized that the book would immediately become a national bestseller that would bring extensive publicity and financial benefit to Bolton. This second point is particularly striking since it’s proof that, despite the widespread declaration that the print media and publishing industries are dead, people still have an interest in hard-copy books. The buzz surrounding the release of Bolton’s book is real. It cannot be easily replicated in the digital realm, using tweets and Facebook posts. People still want to learn more about the stories happening at the highest levels of powers, behind closed doors, and they turn to books to do so. Both Trump and Bolton recognize the latent power held by books in setting political narratives and shaping history. And Trump is on the losing end of this narrative. – Suleiman Judeh (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)

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