Trump begged Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him win re-election, Bolton says


In his forthcoming book, The Room Where It Happened, former National Security Adviser John Bolton reportedly writes, "I am hard pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn't driven by re-election calculations."
President Trump was so focused on remaining in office, Bolton alleges, that he "stunningly" pleaded with Chinese President Xi Jinping to purchase a lot of American agricultural products like soybeans and wheat to boost his approval in states with a large population of farmers so he could "ensure he'd win."
In an excerpt published in The Wall Street Journal, Bolton states that Xi, in the middle of flattering Trump during a dinner in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last year, said he wanted to work with Trump for six more years as the sides hashed out a trade agreement. Xi reportedly told Trump the U.S. had too many elections, to which Trump apparently nodded along approvingly, adding that some people were saying the U.S.'s two-term presidential limit should be repealed for him. Read more at The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Earth roasts on 'Hot Ones: Climate Edition' | May 15 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Thursday's editorial cartoons feature trickle-down economics, Pope Leo XIV's music choice, MAGA's reaction to the 'woke Pope', Donald Trump's Amazon wishlist, and the job market for 2025 college graduates.
-
Thawing permafrost unleashes toxic legacy of mining
Under the Radar Rising temperatures could release huge levels of toxic materials from sealed-off mines into waterways
-
Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning: an 'awe-inspiringly bananas' conclusion
The Week Recommends Tom Cruise undertakes 'death-defying' stunt set pieces in this 'dazzlingly ambitious' finale
-
Trump vows to lift Syria sanctions
speed read The move would help the new government stabilize the country following years of civil war
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs