Bolton's book alleges Trump's controversial defense of Saudi crown prince was a press diversion tactic


Back in November 2018, about six weeks after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Trump issued a statement defending Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, even though the CIA concluded he ordered Khashoggi's assassination a few days earlier.
Now, former National Security Adviser John Bolton alleges in his forthcoming book, The Room Where It Happened, that Trump's enthusiastic rhetoric wasn't really about the possibility that the crown prince had nothing to do with the incident. Instead, Bolton said the statement was mainly part of an effort to draw media attention away from Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, who was under fire following a story about her using her personal email for government business. "This will divert from Ivanka," Trump said, per Bolton's account. "If I read the statement in person, that will take over the Ivanka thing."
It wasn't the only time Bolton's book claims Trump was more concerned about controlling press attention than actual policy. Bolton says the president didn't care too much about the actual denuclearization negotiations with North Korea when he met with Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in 2018, instead viewing the historic summit "as an exercise in futility." Read more at The Washington Post.
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.
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.
-
'No one should be surprised by this cynical strategy'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Intellectual property: AI gains at creators' expense
Feature Two federal judges ruled that it is fair use for AI firms to use copyrighted media to train bots
-
Bill Moyers: the journalist who was the face of PBS
Feature A legend in public broadcasting
-
SCOTUS greenlights mass DOE firings
Speed Read The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to further shrink the Education Department
-
Cuomo announces third-party run for NYC mayor
Speed Read He will go up against progressive Democratic powerhouse Zohran Mamdani and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams
-
Secret Service 'failures' on Trump shooting
Speed Read Two new reports detail security breakdowns that led to attempts on the president's life
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled