President Donald Trump says that any conversation anyone has with him is classified.
“I will consider every conversation with me as president as highly classified,” Trump said Monday, according to multiple reports.
The President made the glaringly false and impossible assertion while speaking to reporters Monday afternoon in the White House as he was attacking his former National Security Advisor, Ambassador John Bolton. The White House reportedly is working on a major plan to try to strip credibility from Bolton and his soon-to-be released book about his time with Trump.
Calling it “highly inappropriate,” Trump also falsely claimed it is “unprecedented” for books to be published about sitting presidents.
Trump on Monday also wrongly threatened that Bolton faces “criminal liability”if he published his book.
“He’s breaking the law,” Trump told reporters about Bolton’s impending book release.
The Trump administration is reportedly planning a lawsuit to stop publication, as Bloomberg News reports.
“I would think he would have criminal problems. I hope so,” Trump said. “Maybe he’s not been telling the truth. He’s been known not to tell the truth.”
That’s factually incorrect. Regardless of Bolton’s agenda, he does not have a reputation for not telling the truth. In fact, just one of his statements was considered necessary to fact check by Politifact, which rated it “mostly true.”
Bolton worked as Trump’s NSA for 17 months.
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