Biden Predicts ‘There Will Be No NATO’ If Trump Wins Reelection

TOPLINE

 Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday predicted that “there will be no NATO” if Trump gets reelected and tore into the president for allegations made by John Bolton in his upcoming book.

KEY FACTS

Key Background

Bolton has garnered massive headlines for the allegations made in his book, which Trump has unsuccessfully sought to block through a lawsuit. Among the most damning claims is that Trump told Xi he thought building the Uighur camps was “exactly the right thing to do,” and that he called Xi “the greatest Chinese leader in 300 years” and begged for help with his reelection.

Tangent

Another of the claims in Bolton’s book is that Russian President Vladimir Putin convinced Trump to be more favorable to Venzeulan strongman Nicolas Maduro by comparing opposition leader Juan Gauidó, whose bid for power Trump has supported, to Trump’s erstwhile opponent Hillary Clinton. In an interview with Axios on Sunday, Trump said he would “maybe think about” meeting with Maduro and indicated he doesn’t have much confidence in Guaidó. On Monday, however, the White House sought to backtrack on those statements, with White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany saying Trump “has not lost confidence” in Guaidó, and Trump tweeting “My Admin has always stood on the side of FREEDOM and LIBERTY and against the oppressive Maduro regime!” and declaring he would only meet with Maduro to discuss “a peaceful exit from power!”

Chief Critic

At least one person familiar with the events outlined in Bolton’s book have pushed back on his retelling of certain events. Chung Eui-yong, a national security advisor to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, accused Bolton of “being inaccurate” and “distorting the reality” about a nuclear summit between Trump and North and South Korea.