“I think he was demonstrating some of those in the morning and during the flight to Anchorage where he was tweeting this, that and the other thing. He was making comments to the press,” Bolton told “The Daily Beast Podcast” host Joanna Coles on Monday.
Bolton added that while he wasn’t in the room with the two, he’s certain Trump “performed” for Putin once he came “face-to-face” with him to discuss steps to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“In other words, he didn’t show nerves through the meeting,” he added. “But I think he was clearly on edge before the meeting.”
He called the meeting “extremely productive” and while they didn’t get to a deal, there’s a “very good chance of getting there.”
Bolton, a frequent Trump critic since the president pushed him out of his first administration, told Coles that “optics are probably more important” to Trump than any other contemporary president.
“And obviously all politicians worry about optics, there’s no question about that. But Trump thinks of himself as a TV performer,” said Bolton, who pointed to Putin getting a military flyover upon his arrival to Alaska.
Bolton went on to argue that Trump’s initial reaction to the meeting was a “real indicator” of how he felt — that he “didn’t feel good” about it — versus his 10 out of 10 rating later on Fox News.
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“He had gotten his presence of mind back and again, since there are only winners and losers, we know he’s a winner. It was a 10. And that’s what you’ve heard since then.”