Pompeo once called Trump 'full of s***', former aide John Bolton claims in new book

Former national security adviser John Bolton claims in his forthcoming book that many of the aides and staff President Donald Trump surrounds himself with loathe the president.

In an anecdote from the book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, Mr Bolton describes secretary of state Mike Pompeo handing him a memo during Mr Trump's visit to North Korea in 2018.

"He's so full of s***," the memo allegedly said.

According to Mr Bolton, Mr Pompeo later outright rejected the president's attempts at diplomacy, giving it "zero probability of success."

However, Politico reporter Jake Sherman quoted a source close to Mr Pompeo saying the story was untrue. He tweeted: "A person close to @SecPompeo – who insisted on anonymity – denied the note-passing incident: 'The only person full of s*** is John Bolton. The secretary is not a note passer. And if he has such a note, he should put up or shut up'."

Portions of the book were obtained by the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. The book's release has been delayed due to a White House pre-release review of the book's content. Mr Trump said during an interview that Mr Bolton was breaking the law by releasing the book, calling the information within "highly classified information."

In an attempt to stop the book's publication, the US Justice Department sued Mr Bolton, claiming it contained classified information. Mr Bolton's attorney maintains that the book contains no classified information.

Mr Bolton's tenure as the national security adviser ended in September 2019, though the precise details of his departure differ based on who tells the story. Mr Trump claims he fired Mr Bolton. But Mr Bolton claims he offered his resignation after becoming disillusioned with Mr Trump, and rather than accepting the resignation, the president told him they'd talk about it the next day. The following day, Mr Trump announced he was firing Mr Bolton.

In parts of the book, Mr Trump is painted as manipulative and intentionally divisive. Mr Bolton accuses him of trying to play his staff against one another by spreading rumours.

Mr Bolton claims the president spread rumours that then-secretary of state Rex Tillerson once referred to United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley using a misogynistic slur.

Mr Trump claimed Mr Tillerson told Ms Haley "You're nothing but a c***, and don't ever forget it."

Mr Bolton was sceptical that the encounter ever took place, noting that such an egregious insult in any other circumstance would have led to a firing.

Regarding Ms Haley, Mr Bolton's book also says that the president's daughter Ivanka and her husband and presidential adviser Jared Kushner, wanted Mr Trump to replace Vice President Mike Pence with Ms Haley for the 2020 US election.

According to the book, Mr Trump apparently asked Mr Bolton for his advice on the move.

"Trump also raised the widespread political rumour he would dump Pence from the ticket in 2020 and run instead with Haley, asking what I thought," Mr Bolton wrote. "White House gossip was common that Ivanka and Kushner favoured 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."

Mr Bolton claims he advised Mr Trump away from the plan, warning that dumping Mr Pence could deal a blow to the president's evangelical support base and that it was unwise to dump someone who'd shown the loyalty that Mr Pence had.