The Room Where It Happened

As Bolton works to exit the Iran deal, Pompeo negotiates the terms of a summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un, the oppressive Supreme Leader of North Korea and long one of the US’s major adversaries. Bolton senses Trump’s appetite for a monumental denuclearization deal that will play well with voters and define his presidential legacy. This deeply concerns Bolton, who’s watched American presidents since George H. W. Bush attempt to negotiate with North Korea only to make concessions and receive nothing in return. To Bolton, any strategy that doesn’t involve applying maximum pressure toward complete and verifiable denuclearization only benefits North Korea by giving it more time to build up its nuclear capabilities. Nor does Bolton favor the so-called “action for action” approach to North Korea that involves step-by-step tradeoffs; for example, the US might ease one sanction in return for the closing of one nuclear facility. This never works, Bolton argues, because it is too easy for North Korea to simply move nuclear assets around under the guise of closing facilities.

Bolton’s pessimism only grows as he watches Trump succumb to Kim’s transparent attempts to flatter him through warm letters—letters that Bolton characterizes as press statements likely written by a North Korean propaganda clerk.