The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir

by John Bolton

I could see his resignation coming, so I asked, “But what is the alternative if you resign?” Kelly said, “What if we have a real crisis like 9/11 with the way he makes decisions?” I asked, “Do you think it will be better if you leave? At least wait until after the election. If you resign now, the whole election could go bad.” “Maybe it would be better that way,” he answered bitterly, so I said, “Whatever you do will be honorable, but there’s nothing positive about the likes of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders having more authority.” He answered, “I’m going out to Arlington,” presumably to visit his son’s grave, which he did at serious times. We knew this because it happened so often. I left the Roosevelt Room for Kelly’s office, where Pompeo was still waiting before going out to speak to the press about Khashoggi. After his press gaggle, we spoke in my office about what to do, Kelly having left. It was grim. “Mattis is always overseas,” Pompeo said, “the VP is in Mississippi talking about religious freedom, and the only thing Mnuchin thinks about is covering his ass. This will just leave you and me,” worrying that Kelly could go at any time. “If he [Trump] wants to know who the real warriors are, just look around [meaning us]. And Kelly is part of that.” I agreed. Realizing how bad it all sounded, Pompeo said, “This whole thing could end up being the Donald, Ivanka, and Jared show!” In the midst of all this, in the early afternoon, I showed Trump my one-page immigration...