Sarah Sanders: Bolton was ‘drunk on power’

Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders takes aim at John Bolton in her upcoming memoir, claiming the former national security adviser was self-centered and “drunk on power.” 

“Bolton was a classic case of a senior White House official drunk on power, who had forgotten that nobody elected him to anything,” Sanders writes in an excerpt of “Speaking for Myself” obtained by Axios and published on Monday. 

Sanders describes one example in which the White House team traveled to London alongside President Trump for his state visit in 2019, and Bolton left in a separate motorcade for the U.S. ambassador’s residence ahead of the rest of the staff.

“Bolton apparently felt too important to travel with the rest of us,” Sanders wrote, according to Axios. 

“As we were ready to depart for the Winfield House … [w]e waited and watched as Bolton sped by and left us in the dust. The discussion on the bus quickly moved … to how arrogant and selfish Bolton could be, not just in this moment but on a regular basis,” the former press secretary continued.

Bolton’s act apparently invoked a heated response from former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who reportedly confronted the national security adviser.

“Let’s face it, John,” Mulvaney said, according to an excerpt obtained by Axios. “You’re a f—ing self-righteous, self-centered son of a bitch.’ “

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.

A spokeswoman for Bolton told Axios that the former national security adviser had no input in his travel arrangements during the London trip.

“All logistical arrangements for travel of this sort were handled by the Secret Service, without any input from Ambassador Bolton,” the spokeswoman said. “It is impossible to believe that his assigned Secret Service agents acted other than in a completely professional manner, fully coordinated with the Secret Service details assigned to Messrs. Mnuchin and Mulvaney.”

The report comes as Bolton has unleashed an assault against his former employer, declaring in an interview that he would not vote for the president in November and explosive claims from his upcoming book have been published in news articles.

Among the claims is the assertion that Trump himself reached out to Chinese President Xi Jinping about assistance in the 2020 election.