Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders detailed an explosive fight between then-chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton during President Trump’s state visit to London a year ago.
Sanders writes in her forthcoming book that Bolton was “drunk on power” and “had forgotten that nobody elected him to anything,” according to Axios.
“Bolton apparently felt too important to travel with the rest of us,” Sanders wrote.
“As we were ready to depart for the Winfield House,” the U.S. ambassador’s residence in London, “we loaded onto a small black bus. We waited and watched as Bolton sped by and left us in the dust,” Sanders wrote. “The discussion on the bus quickly moved … to how arrogant and selfish Bolton could be, not just in this moment but on a regular basis.”
Sanders noted that even Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was on the bus.
“When we finally arrived at the Winfield House, Mick Mulvaney, typically laid-back and not one to get caught up in titles or seniority, confronted Bolton and unleashed a full Irish explosion on him,” Sanders said.
“Let’s face it, John,” Mulvaney said, according to Sanders. “You’re a f—— self-righteous, self-centered son of a b—-!'”
Sanders said Bolton often thought he was more important than other White House officials “and could play by a different set of rules than the rest of the team.”
Another account of the trip, reported last week by the Daily Mail, said Bolton demanded his own Air Force jet to travel to London for the state visit instead of flying on Air Force One with the rest of the staff and the president.
Bolton wrote in his forthcoming book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, that Trump confronted him about his government travel, saying, “You have your own airplane.”
An official on the trip also claimed Bolton “stole the security detail from the staff bus so that it could escort him across London.” The official said Mulvaney and Bolton got “into a shouting match” over Bolton’s behavior in London.
Sarah Tinsley, a longtime senior adviser to Bolton, told Axios that all logistical travel arrangements were made by Secret Service, “without any input” from Bolton.
