The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir

by John Bolton

“Would you sign it, John?” Trump then asked, and I said, “I would not, Mr. President.” I explained again my reasons why Trump should just go down to 8,600 service members, plus associated and coalition forces, if that’s what he wanted to do, and then wait and await further developments, such as the Afghan elections. There was no way to trust the Taliban and no enforcement mechanism. This was not a New York real estate deal. Khalilzad then explained this was the deal Trump had said he wanted. Esper said he thought I made a lot of good points, but the Defense Department wanted the deal, because after all it was “conditions based.” Trump posed what was always his key question: “How bad will this deal make me look? The Democrats would trash a great agreement.” Esper suggested bringing in Hill leaders for consultations. Trump asked, “Is this agreement salable?” and I said I didn’t think so, largely because, in my view, the Taliban wouldn’t adhere to it and everyone knew