John Bolton and Donald Trump
John Bolton and Donald TrumpReuters

US President Donald Trump on Thursday blasted former national security adviser John Bolton after the publication of excerpts of his new book which makes explosive accusations about Trump.

In a series of tweets, Trump wrote, “Bolton’s book, which is getting terrible reviews, is a compilation of lies and made up stories, all intended to make me look bad. Many of the ridiculous statements he attributes to me were never made, pure fiction. Just trying to get even for firing him like the sick puppy he is!”

“When Wacko John Bolton went on Deface the Nation and so stupidly said that he looked at the ‘Libyan Model’ for North Korea, all hell broke out. Kim Jong Un, who we were getting along with very well, went ‘ballistic’, just like his missiles - and rightfully so,” said Trump in another tweet.

“He didn’t want Bolton anywhere near him. Bolton’s dumbest of all statements set us back very badly with North Korea, even now. I asked him, ‘what the hell were you thinking?’ He had no answer and just apologized. That was early on, I should have fired him right then & there!” he wrote in yet another tweet.

Bolton, who served for 17 months as Trump’s National Security Advisor before he was fired last September, penned a 592-page book after his firing, slated to be released on June 23.

In the book, Bolton takes frequent jabs at the president, calling him “erratic” and “foolish” and claimed he behaved “irrationally” and “bizarrely”. “You can’t leave him alone for a minute.”

In one excerpt of the book released on Wednesday, Bolton claims that Trump “pleaded” with China’s Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help his reelection prospects.

In sections of the book released Wednesday and published by CNN, Bolton further claimed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu felt serious concerns regarding Trump’s selection of his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner to head up a team charged with drafting the administration’s Middle East peace plan. The claims were rejected by Netanyahu on Thursday.

The Justice Department has sued to bar the book’s publication, claiming it contains classified information, and that Bolton violated a non-disclosure agreement by writing the book.

On Monday, Trump said it was “totally inappropriate” for Bolton to write a memoir about his work in the White House.

“If he wrote a book, I can’t imagine that he can because that’s highly classified information. I will consider every conversation with me as president highly classified. So that would mean if he wrote a book and if the book gets out, he’s broken the law and I would think he would have criminal problems,” Trump told reporters during a meeting in the Cabinet Room.