by John Bolton;
31 See “Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and CEA Chairman Kevin Hassett,” https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/press-briefing-press-secretary-sarah-sanders-cea-chairman-kevin-hassett-091018/.
CHAPTER 5: A TALE OF THREE CITIES—SUMMITS IN BRUSSELS, LONDON, AND HELSINKI
1 My earlier encounters with Putin are described in Surrender Is Not an Option, especially chapter three.
2 See Jeffrey Goldberg, “The Obama Doctrine,” https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/; Mark Landler, “Obama Criticizes the ‘Free Riders’ Among America’s Allies,” https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/10/world/middleeast/obama-criticizes-the-free-riders-among-americas-allies.html.
3 See Susan B. Glasser, “Trump National Security Team Blindsided by NATO Speech,” https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/05/trump-nato-speech-national-security-team-215227.
4 Nicholas Fiorenza, “Allies agree to reduce US contributions to NATO common funding,” https://www.janes.com/article/92915/allies-agree-to-reduce-us-contributions-to-nato-common-funding.
5 See Veronica Stracqualursi, “Trump says Putin meeting “may be the easiest of them all,” https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/10/politics/trump-putin-meeting/index.html.
6 See “Remarks by President Trump and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at Bilateral Breakfast,” July 11, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-nato-secretary-general-jens-stoltenberg-bilateral-breakfast/.
7 Merkel was repeating what she had said earlier on entering the NATO headquarters, having obviously heard about the Stoltenberg-Trump breakfast. See Steve Erlanger and Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Trump versus Merkel: Blistering Salvo Meets Quiet Rejoinder,” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/world/europe/germany-merkel-russia-trump-nato.html.
8 These were all remarks Trump had earlier said publicly. See ibid.
9 See “Statement from the Press Secretary on the Expulsion of Russian Intelligence Officers,” March 26, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statementsstatement-press-secretary-expulsion-russian-intelligence-officers/.
10 See Mark Mazzetti et al., “12 Russian Agents Indicted in Mueller Investigation,” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/us/politics/mueller-indictment-russian-intelligence-hacking.html.
11 See “Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister May of the United Kingdom in Joint Press Conference,” July 13, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-prime-minister-may-united-kingdom-joint-press-conference/.
12 See “Fearing Russian aggression, Finland tells 900K military reservists to be prepared ‘in the event of war,’ ” https://nationalpost.com/news/world/fearing-russian-aggression-finland-tells-900k-military-reservists-to-be-prepared-in-the-event-of-war, which cites a figure of 285,000 army reservists.
13 All attributed comments to the two Presidents in this and the following paragraphs are from “Remarks by President Trump and President Putin of the Russian Federation in Joint Press Conference,” July 16, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-president-putin-russian-federation-joint-press-conference/.
CHAPTER 6: THWARTING RUSSIA
1 See “New START: Treaty Text,” https://2009-2017.state.gov/t/avc/newstart/c44126.htm.
2 See “Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure,” https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-marine-one-departure-18/.
3 See Reuters, “Bolton says we’re a long way from deploying U.S. missiles in Europe,” October 23, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nuclear-bolton-inf/bolton-says-were-a-long-way-from-deploying-u-s-missiles-in-europe-idUSKCN1MX2L9.
4 See Deutsche Welle, “INF: Vladimir Putin Threatens to mirror US deployment of nuclear missiles in Europe,” October 24, 2018, https://www.dw.com/en/inf-vladimir-putin-threatens-to-mirror-us-deployment-of-nuclear-missiles-in-europe/a-46031790.
5 See U.S. Department of Defense, “Nuclear Posture Review,” 2018, https://media.defense.gov/2018/Feb/02/2001872886/-1/-1/1/2018-NUCLEAR-POSTURE-REVIEW-FINAL-REPORT.PDF, at pp. 9 and 53.
6 See Bolton, Surrender Is Not an Option, pp.87–92, 97.
7 See Aaron Mehta, “US, Russia remain at ‘impasse’ over Open Skies treaty flights,” https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/09/14/us-russia-remain-at-impasse-over-nuclear-treaty-flights/.
8 Aric Jenkins, “Why Russia Was Allowed to Fly a Surveillance Plane Over the Capitol and the Pentagon,” https://time.com/4895574/open-skies-treaty-russia-surveillance-plane/.
9 Julian Borger, “Trump administration determined to exit treaty reducing risk of war,” April 5, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/05/trump-administration-treaty-war-russia-withdraw.
10 See Curtis A. Bradley, “Unratified Treaties, Domestic Politics, and the US Constitution,” 48 Harvard International Law Journal 307 (Number 2, Summer, 2007), https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2517&context=faculty_scholarship.
11 The story of how we unsigned the ICC is told briefly in Surrender Is Not an Option, pp. 85–87.
12 See John R. Bolton, “Vladimir Putin looked Trump in the eye and lied to him. We negotiate with Russia at our peril,” at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/10/vladimir-putin-looked-trump-eye-lied-negotiate-russia-peril/.
13 David Filipov et al., “Putin denies election hacking after Trump pressed him, Tillerson says,” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/heres-whats-at-stake-whentrump-finally-meets-putin/2017/07/07/a5c577d2-627c-11e7-80a2-8c226031ac3f_story.html.
14 See “National Cyber Strategy of the United States of America,” September, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/National-Cyber-Strategy.pdf, pp.1-2 and throughout.
15 Ibid.
16 Jacqueline Thomsen, “US to prioritize attacks against foreign adversaries under new cyber strategy,” https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/407670-us-to-launch-offensive-attacks-against-foreign-adversaries-under-new.
17 Justin Lynch, “Trump’s national cyber strategy praised by experts,” https://www.fifthdomain.com/congress/policy/2018/09/21/trumps-national-cyber-strategy-praised-by-experts/.
18 See “Executive Order on Imposing Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election,” September 12, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-imposing-certain-sanctions-event-foreign-interference-united-states-election/.
19 See, e.g., Eric Geller, “Trump silent as top officials warn of Russia threat,” https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/02/trump-russian-election-hacking-720428.
20 See end note 9, chapter 5.
21 See Ivan Gutterman et al., “A Timeline of All Russia-Related Sanctions,” https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-sanctions-timeline/29477179.html.
22 Ellen Nakashima and Paul Sonne, “Bolton says US is conducting ‘offensive cyber’ action to thwart would-be election disrupters,” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/bolton-acknowledges-us-has-taken-action-to-thwart-would-be-election-disrupters/2018/10/31/0c5dfa64-dd3d-11e8-85df-7a6b4d25cfbb_story.html.
23 Darwin McDaniel, “Nakasone: 2018 Midterm Elections a Success in Feds’ Cyber Efforts,” https://www.executivegov.com/2019/01/nakasone-2018-midterm-elections-a-success-in-feds-cyber-efforts/.
CHAPTER 7: TRUMP HEADS FOR THE DOOR IN SYRIA AND AFGHANISTAN, AND CAN’T FIND IT
1 See Greg Farrell and Christian Bertelsen, “Turkey’s Halkbank Could Suffer from Ex-Banker’s US Conviction,” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-04/turkey-s-halkbank-could-suffer-from-ex-banker-s-u-s-conviction, and Amanda Sloat, “Why Turkey cares about the trial of Reza Zarrab,” https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2017/11/22/why-turkey-cares-about-the-trial-of-reza-zarrab/.
2 See “A court case in New York rattles Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” https://www.economist.com/europe/2017/12/09./a-court-case-in-new-york-rattles-turkeys-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan
.
3 See “Andrew Brunson: US hits Turkey with sanctions over jailed pastor,” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45036378.
4 See Zeynep Bilginsoy, “Turkey slaps sanctions on 2 US officials in retaliation,” https://www.apnews.com/4d47a56373e64669b80a3a14f87c0be2.
5 “Turkey expects no fine for Halkbank: finance minister,” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-currency-albayrak-usa/turkey-expects-no-fine-for-halkbank-finance-minister-idUSKCN1LJ0L6.
6 See Jack Ewing and Carlotta Gall, “Qatar Comes to Aid of Turkey, Offering $15 Billion Lifeline,” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/world/europe/turkey-andrew-brunson-tariffs.html.
7 See Carlotta Gall, “Turkey Frees Pastor Andrew Brunson, Easing Tensions With US,” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/world/europe/turkey-us-pastor-andrew-brunson.html.
8 See, e.g., Atlantic Council, “The sticky situation of the final Idlib offensive,” August 15, 2018, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/syriasource/the-sticky-situation-of-the-final-idlib-offensive/.
9 See, e.g., “Israel says it launched 200 strikes in Syria since 2017,” September 5, 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/09/israel-launched-200-strikes-syria-2017-180905063755959.html.
10 See Barbara Starr et al., “Syria accidentally shot down a Russian military plane,” https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/17/politics/syrian-regime-shoots-down-russian-plane/index.html.
11 See Jonathan Marcus, “Is Russia taking control of Syria’s air defenses?”, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45625388.
12 See, e.g., Michael Knights, Washington Institute, “Responding to Iranian Harassment of U.S. Facilities in Iraq,” https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/responding-to-iranian-harassment-of-u.s.-facilities-in-iraq; Al Jaazeera, “Rockets hit Iranian Kurdish opposition office’s in Iraq’s Koya,” September 8, 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/09/rockets-hit-iranian-kurdish-opposition-offices-iraq-koya-180908090605503.html; and Edward Wong, “Blaming Iran, U.S. Evacuates Consulate in Southern Iraq,” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/world/middleeast/iraq-iran-consulate-basra-closed.html.
13 See Edward Wong, note 12, above.
14 See Glenn Harlan Reynolds, “Turkey’s new sultan,” July 20, 2016, https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/07/20/turkey-coup-islam-erdogan-sharia-sultan-caliphate-crackdown-democracy-column/87344676/.
15 The December 14 call is noted at p. 138 in https://www.govtinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-2018DIGEST/pdf/DCPD-2018DIGEST.pdf. See also Barbara Starr et al., “Trump orders rapid withdrawal from Syria in apparent reversal,” https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/19/politics/us-syria-withdrawal/index.html; and Karen DeYoung, “Trump Administration tries to head off Turkish assault on Kurds in Syria,” December 14, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-tries-to-head-off-turkish-assault-on-kurds-in-syria/2018/12/14/6d614120-ffe5-11e8-ad40-cdfd0e0dd65a_story.html.
16 See Mark Landler et al., “Trump to Withdraw US Forces From Syria, Declaring ‘We Have Won Against ISIS,’ ” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/politics/trump-syria-turkey-troop-wthdrawal.html.
17 See p. 140 at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DPCD-2018DIGEST/pdf/DPCD-2018DIGEST.pdf.
18 See “Remarks by President Trump to Troops at Al Asad Air Base, Al Anbar Province, Iraq,” December 26, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-troops-al-asad-air-base-al-anbar-province-iraq/.
19 See Zeke Miller and Lolita C. Baldor, “US pushes NATO allies to join observer force in Syria,” https://apnews.com/1fa36d41b686410e84bfc986c9f56337.
20 See Bolton, Surrender Is Not an Option, throughout, on this subject.
21 See David A. Sanger, “Bolton Puts Conditions on Syria Withdrawal, Suggesting a Delay of Months or Years,” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/world/middleeast/bolton-syria-pullout.html.
22 See “Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure” January 6, 2019, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-marine-one-departure-29/.
23 See note 21 above.
24 See Associated Press, “Turkey slams Pompeo comments on ‘slaughtering’ Kurds,” January 4, 2019, https://apnews.com/27fa54d76e8d4fa79453430f9e2b57ae.
25 Missy Ryan and Karen DeYoung, “ ‘No different from my original statements’: Trump denies changes to Syria exit plan,” https://www.washingonpost.com/world/national-security/no-different-from-my-original-statements-trump-denies-changes-to-syria-exit-plan/2019/01/07/d93922f2-128f-11e9-90a8-136fa44b80ba_story.html.
26 Karen DeYoung and Karoun Demirjian, “Contradicting Trump, Bolton says no withdrawal from Syria until ISIS destroyed, Kurds’ safety guaranteed,” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/no-different-from-my-original-statements-trump-denies-changes-to-syria-exit-plan/2019/01/07/d93922f2-128f-11e9-90a8-136fa44b80ba_story.html.
27 See Australian Broadcasting Corporation, “Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan says ‘no concession’ for Syrian Kurds, snubbing US plea,” January 8, 2019, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-09/turkey-rejects-us-request-to-protect-us-kurdish-allies-in-syria/10700680.
28 See Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “White House Now Says 400 ‘Peacekeepers’ To Remain In Syria, Up From 200,” February 23, 2019, https://www.rferl.org/a/us-keeping-peacekeepers-syria-pullout-kurds-russia-iran-turkey/29786293.html.
29 See Zachary Cohen, “Inside the dramatic US military raid that killed ISIS leader Baghdadi,” https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/27/politics/bagdhadi-inside-the-raid-timeline/index.html.
30 See Eliza Relman, “Defense Secretary Mattis reportedly wasn’t consulted before the military dropped the ‘mother of all bombs,’ ” https://www.businessinsider.com/mattis-mother-of-all-bombs-2017-5.
31 See Julie Turkewitz, “Brent Taylor, Utah Major Killed in Afghanistan, Was on 4th Deployment,” November 4, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/04/us/utah-mayor-killed-afghanistan-brent-taylor.html.
32 The concept of a “counter-terrorism platform” in Afghanistan, to be sure going through many variations, had long been under discussion. See, e.g., Andrew deGrandpre, “Before there’s another surge in Afghanistan, Mattis and his general need to meet,” https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2017/02/11/before-there-s-another-surge-in-afghanistan-mattis-and-his-general-need-to-meet/.
33 See Mujib Mashal, “U.S. and Taliban Agree in Principle to Peace Framework, Envoy Says,” January 28, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/world/asia/taliban-peace-deal-afghanistan.html.
34 See “President Donald J. Trump’s State of the Union Address,” February 5, 2019, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trumps-state-union-address-2/.
CHAPTER 8: CHAOS AS A WAY OF LIFE
1 John H. Sununu, The Quiet Man: The Indispensable Presidency of George H.W. Bush (New York: Broadside Books, 2015).
2 See Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, “Dictatorships and Double Standards,” https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/dictatorships-double-standards/.
3 See Helene Cooper, “Fraying Ties With Trump Put Jim Mattis’s Fate in Doubt,” posted at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/15/us/politics/jim-mattis-trump-defense-relationship.html.
4 See Ashley Parker and Phillip Rucker, “ ‘A rising star’: Haley poses a potential threat to Trump even if she doesn’t run in 2020,” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-rising-star-haley-poses-a-potential-threat-to-trump-even-if-she-doesnt-run-in-2020/2018/10/09/bca850d8-cbd9-11e8-920f-dd52e1ae4570_story.html.
5 See Christina Zhao, “Nikki Haley Denies ‘False Rumors’ of a Possible Trump/Haley 2020 Ticket: Pence ‘Has My Complete Support,’ ” https://www.newsweek.com/nikki-haley-denies-false-rumors-possible-trump-haley-2020-ticket-pence-has-my-complete-1455584.
6 See, e.g., BBC, “France’s Macron pushes for ‘true European army.’ ” November 6, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46108633.
7 See Scott McDonald, “John Kelly’s ‘Yes Man’ Comments on Tru
mp Ripped Through Social Media,” https://www.newsweek.com/john-kellys-yes-man-comments-trump-ripped-through-social-media-1467986.
8 See Caroline Kelly et al., “White House: John Kelly ‘was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great President,” https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/26/politics/john-kelly-trump-yes-man/index.html.
9 See Rachel Frazin, “Grisham: John Kelly ill-equipped to work with ‘the genius of our great president,’ ” https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/467602-grisham-john-kelly-ill-equipped-to-work-with-the-genius-of-the.
CHAPTER 9: VENEZUELA LIBRE
1 See, e.g., the interview with Elliott Abrams, the State Department’s point person on Venezuela, in David Luhnow and José de Córdoba, “Venezuela’s Government Held Talks With Government on Ousting Maduro,” May 1, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelas-opposition-held-talks-with-government-on-ousting-maduro-11556767656.
2 See New York Times, “Trump Alarms Venezuela With Talk of a ‘Military Option,’ ” August 12, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/12/world/americas/trump-venezuela-military.html and Christopher Woody, “Trump: ‘I’m not going to rule out a military option’ for Venezuela, August 11, 2017, https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-im-not-going-to-rule-out-a-military-option-for-venezuela-2017-8.
3 See Siobhán O’Grady, “As Maduro clashes with opposition, Washington engages in ‘careful little dance’ with Venezuela,” January 12, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/01/12/maduro-clashes-with-opposition-washington-engages-careful-little-dance-with-venezuela/.
4 State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said, “It is time to begin the orderly transition to a new government. We support the National Assembly’s call for all Venezuelans to work together, peacefully, to restore constitutional government and build a better future.” Ibid.
5 See Ana Vanessa Herrero, “Venezuela Opposition Leader Is Arrested After Proposing to Take Power,” January 13, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/13/world/americas/venezeula-juan-guaido-arrest.html.
