Hemisphere Weekly: John Bolton tells all

On Monday, President Trump walked back comments that he would meet with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Taking to Twitter, President Trump said “I would only meet with Maduro to discuss one thing: a peaceful exit from power!” In an exclusive interview with Axios, Trump suggests he had second thoughts about his decision to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s legitimate leader and said that he would consider meeting with Maduro, noting, “I would maybe think about that . . . Maduro would like to meet. And I’m never opposed to meetings—you know, rarely opposed to meetings.”

President Trump’s comments coincide with the release of  former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.” In the book, Bolton recounts a number of foreign policy events, including behind-the-scenes details of the U.S.’s strategy toward Venezuela. From criticizing officials who worried about the humanitarian effects of economic sanctions, to ridiculing the State Department’s decision to close the embassy in Caracas—which he credits for the botched military uprising in April of 2019—Bolton reveals how fragmented the administration was in shaping its policy toward Venezuela. At one point in the book, Bolton writes that Trump thought Guaidó was “weak” and didn’t have what it takes to defeat Maduro, who he was quoted as calling “strong” and “too smart and too tough.” Bolton also took swings at the Organization of American States, calling the organization “one of the most moribund international organizations (and that’s saying something).”