Bolton’s revelations

To put it mildly, the extracts from the new book by John Bolton, former US national security adviser, do not cast Donald Trump in a flattering light. So disenchanted was the author – a lifelong Republican – with the goings-on in the White House that he said he would not vote for Mr Trump in the coming presidential election. As he told Con Coughlin in an exclusive interview: “The president does not have a philosophical grounding or strategy… There is confusion over the national interest and his personal interest, which is very dangerous for the country.”

Such an assessment from one of the more hawkish members of the administration six months before it seeks a second term in office might cause most politicians to take stock. Of course, Mr Trump is no ordinary politician. As Mr Bolton said, he assumed office with little personal knowledge of how government worked and did not bother to find out. “No president in the past century has followed this approach,” he added.

But that is precisely Mr Trump’s appeal. He has deliberately set himself up as the anti-politician, a representative of the “ordinary people” allegedly let down by past occupants of the Oval Office. This has secured for Mr Trump a base vote of about 40 per cent which has remained solid throughout the trials and tribulations of the past three-and-half years. But that is not enough to win a presidential election. At the moment it is hard to gauge where the additional support will come from to see him over the line. A weekend rally in Tulsa intended to reignite the campaign failed to attract the predicted “massive crowd”.

Is Mr Trump finished? After what happened last time, few would bet as much.