World leaders think Trump is ‘laughing fool,’ John Bolton says

Former national security adviser John Bolton said world leaders look at former President Trump as a “laughing fool” in his latest attack on the GOP presidential front-runner.

“I think they think — Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and others — they think he’s a laughing fool. And they’re fully prepared to take advantage of him. Trump’s self-absorption makes it impossible for him to understand that,” Bolton said Tuesday on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlin Collins.”

Speaking to Collins, Bolton argued Trump does not understand the role of the presidency.

“Well, I think the hard men of history, like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, understand what their job is for their respective country. I don’t think Trump understands what the job of the presidency is for ours,” he said.

“And I will say, having been in the room with him, in meeting those people, having listened in, on his phone conversations, I don’t think they are really friendly with Donald Trump,” he continued.

Bolton is promoting a new edition of his memoir, with a foreword in which he reportedly described Trump as being “unfit” to be the nation’s commander in chief.

He told Collins on Tuesday that world leaders such as Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi would be pleased if Trump returned to the White House, as they believe he is an “easy mark.” He said Putin would “love” for Trump to follow through on his promise to solve the war in Ukraine “in 24 hours.”

“That is impossible. And — but when you come to the end of the 24 hours, obviously, it won’t be Donald Trump that failed, because that doesn’t happen. It must be one of the other two,” Bolton said. “I think he would point the finger at [Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky]. I think Putin would be delighted with the outcome, at that point.”

Bolton also emphasized he does not believe Trump is “capable of making the decisions grounded in national security.” He said the former president only cares about his personal relationships with world leaders, “especially the authoritarian ones.”

“So, faced with these decisions, Trump could go one way in the morning, a different way in the afternoon. He doesn’t have the ability to stay consistent for long periods of time, except on one thing, which is how he looks in the press, and in public attention. And that is very worrying,” Bolton said.

“When you’re in a crisis, you need a president who is resolute, who can keep his eyes on the prize and worry about our national security, not his own image,” he added.

Since leaving the Trump administration in 2019, Bolton has become a frequent critic of the former president.

The Hill has reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment.