Trump tends to listen to whoever was the last person in the room and seeks out people he expects to agree with his initial hunch; he can sometimes be persuaded primarily by arguments that he will personally benefit in prestige, public approval, or stock market reaction, rather than by normal policy debate.

causalpending

Speaker

John Bolton

Evidence Quote

He was always interested in what made Trump look better. But in terms of carrying out a normal policy discussion, uh that really was of little interest to him.

Source

John Bolton Warns: The System Is Breaking Down. The World’s Out of Control And No One's in ChargeDecoding Geopolitics Podcast with Dominik Presl
Created: 6/18/2026, 1:57:40 PM

My Notes

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