Donald Trump called Nikki Haley a 'c***' John Bolton's book reveals - even though Jared and Ivanka wanted president to dump Mike Pence and make Haley his 2020 running mate
President Donald Trump referred to his former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as a 'c***' even as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump wanted her on the 2020 presidential ticket instead of Mike Pence, a new book claims.
John Bolton, the president's former National Security Adviser, reveals the details in his forthcoming book 'The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,' a copy of which was obtained by DailyMail.com amid a clash over its publication.
Bolton recalled a time in the Oval Office with the president, who complained about how much he disliked his then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
President Donald Trump referred to his former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as a 'c***' John Bolton claims in his new memoir
Bolton details Nikki Haley's departure from the Trump administration - she's seen above in October 2018 where she announced she would step down as UN Ambassador by year's end
Bolton claims Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump wanted Nikki Haley on the 2020 presidential ticket instead of Mike Pence
During that conversation, Bolton claims Trump told him about a dinner the president had with Haley and Tillerson, where Trump alleged it was Tillerson that called her a 'c***.'
The president claimed Tillerson said to Haley: 'You're nothing but a c***, and don't ever forget it.'
Bolton admitted in his memoir that he wondered if Tillerson 'actually said it,' noting that in most administrations, such a remark would have gotten a person fired.
'And if he hadn't, why did Trump tell me he had?,' Bolton wrote.
Bolton became Trump's national security adviser in April 2018 and left in September 2019. Trump claims he fired him but Bolton claims he left over policy differences on several issues, including Iraq, Afghanistan and the Ukraine.
The Justice Department is suing John Bolton to stop publication of his memoir
His book is the subject of an on-going legal battle. The Justice Department sued him to stop its publication, claiming it has classified information. Bolton's lawyer says it does not and noted it went through the government review process required by someone who served in Bolton's position.
Haley, who is Indian-American, became a rising star in the Republican Party when she was elected governor of South Carolina in 2010. Trump named her as his pick to represent the United States to the UN shortly after he won the 2016 election.
She was quickly and easily confirmed by the Senate, 96-4, but left the job on December 31, 2018. She outlasted Tillerson however, whom Trump fired in March 2018.
Haley announced - to much surprise and fanfare - in October 2018 she would leave her plum post at the end of the year, a pronouncement made in pomp in circumstance in an Oval Office meeting.
At that time, Haley lavished praise on Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president's daughter and son-in-law, who serves as advisers in the West Wing and are a power center in the Trump administration.
'I can't say enough good things about Jared and Ivanka,' Haley said at the time of the couple, who were considered her biggest allies in the White House.
'Jared is such a hidden genius that no one understands,' Haley gushed, citing his work on the renegotiating NAFTA and on various trade deals.
'Ivanka has just been a great friend,' Haley added.
She said the couple do more behind the scenes in the Trump administration than people realize although she did not offer specific examples.
'They do a lot of things behind the scenes that I wish more people knew about because we are a better country because they're in the administration,' Haley said.
But there could be more to the optics than Haley thanking her friends.
Bolton reveals in his book that Ivanka and Kushner wanted to jettison Vice President Mike Pence from the 2020 ticket and replace him with Haley.
He reveals Trump asked him about the idea around the holidays in 2018 - as Haley was wrapping up her tenure in New York at UN headquarters.
'Trump also raised the widespread political rumor he would dump Pence from the ticket in 2020 and run instead with Haley, asking what I thought,' Bolton wrote. 'White House gossip was common that Ivanka and Kushner favored this approach, which tied in with Haley's leaving her position as UN Ambassador in December 2018, thus allowing her to do some politicking around the country before being named to the ticket in 2020.'
The pros were seen as Haley would bring women to Trump's side. The cons were he could lose the party's evangelical base who supposed Pence.
Bolton writes he told Trump 'it was a bad idea to jettison someone loyal, and that doing so risked alienating people he needed (who could stay home, even if they didn't vote for Trump's opponent) without necessarily generating new support because of the replacement.'
Bolton writes that President Trump claimed then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the one that actually called Nikki Haley a 'c***' but Bolton writes his doubts of that
President Donald Trump and then-U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley during a meeting on United Nations Reform at the United Nations headquarters on September 18, 2017
Outgoing UN Ambassador Nikki Haley lavished praise on Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump during her 2018 departure announcement
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, who serve as advisers to President Trump, were in the Oval Office to hear Haley's glowing words
He also said of Haley's departure from the administration: 'Few doubted the 2024 race for the Republican presidential nomination had now begun.
Bolton's book is the first memoir from a high-ranking official in the Trump administration and is from an official with longtime conservative credentials who served as a commentator on Fox News.
The New York Times called it a 'withering portrait of a president ignorant of even basic facts about the world, susceptible to transparent flattery by authoritarian leaders manipulating him and prone to false statements, foul-mouthed eruptions and snap decisions that aides try to manage or reverse' in its review.
And the Washington Post calls it 'the most substantive, critical dissection of the president from an administration insider so far.'
Bolton reveals his frustrations with the president's daughter and son-in-law in the book.
And it wasn't just him. He claims then-chief of staff John Kelly and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also had their frustrations with the couple.
He claims Pompeo said to him they had to stay on because they were the 'real warriors.' The words came when Kelly was frustrated and considering leaving the administration. Pompeo told him that then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis 'is always overseas' and the 'only thing' Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin thinks about is 'covering his a**.'
'This will just leave you and me,' Pompeo said, worried Kelly would leave. 'If he [Trump] wants to know who the real warriors are, just look around [meaning us]. And Kelly is a part of that.'
Pompeo added: 'This whole thing could end up being the Donald, Ivanka and Jared show!'
Kelly left the White House in January 2019 and has become a vocal critic of the president since then.
Ivanka Trump praised Nikki Haley in a tweet when she announced her departure, Ivanka and Jared were said to be Haley's biggest allies in White House
Vice President Mike Pence remained on Trump's presidential ticket
John Bolton's book has hit the best seller list on Amazon.com and an interview with him will air on ABC on Sunday
Bolton recalls how he learned Kushner was going to be calling the finance minister of Turkey because they were both son-in-laws to their country's respective leaders.
He noted what happened when he told Pompeo and Mnuchin of what he learned.
'I briefed Pompeo and Mnuchin on this new 'son-in-law channel' and they both exploded,' he wrote.
Mnuchin was angry because Kushner was reaching out to his Turkish counter part and Pompeo was 'because this was one more example of Kushner's doing international negotiations he shouldn't have been doing (along with the never quite ready Middle East peace plan.)'
He also recalled Kelly had his battles with Kushner. When President Trump was furious how the numbers of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States hadn't gone down, Kelly learned Kushner called Mexican officials.
'Why is Jared calling Mexicans?' Kelly asked Trump. 'Because I asked him to. How else are we going to stop the caravans?' the president responded.
Bolton also revealed how Trump protected his daughter when she came under fire for using her personal email for official business, which is a violation of the Presidential Records Act.
He claims in his book that Trump defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamaal Khashoggi to distract from the Ivanka story.
'This will divert from Ivanka,' Trump said of his statement. 'If I read the statement in person, that will take over the Ivanka thing.'
He also revealed the president wasn't happy with what his daughter did. 'Goddamn it why didn't she change her phone? What a mess we have because of that phone,' he recalls Trump saying.
Donald Trump called Nikki Haley a 'c***' John Bolton's book reveals - even though Jared and Ivanka wanted president to dump Mike Pence and make Haley his 2020 running mate
![Donald Trump called Nikki Haley a 'c***' John Bolton's book reveals - even though Jared and Ivanka wanted president to dump Mike Pence and make Haley his 2020 running mate]()
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June 18, 2020
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