Bolton’s book accuses Trump of widespread misdeeds; Supreme Court blocks Trump from ending DACA; Germany closes meat processing plant after coronavirus outbreak

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In a new book, former White House national security adviser John Bolton accuses US President Donald Trump of sweeping misdeeds in order to pursue reelection, including explicitly seeking Chinese President Xi Jinping’s help. Bolton, a longtime foreign policy hawk, also writes that Trump expressed a willingness to halt criminal investigations to favor dictators he liked.

Bolton’s book offers a firsthand account confirming many of the allegations that led to Trump’s impeachment — directly linking the suspension of $391 million in security aid for Ukraine and demands that Ukraine publicly announce investigations into former Vice President Joseph Biden.

News of the upcoming release of the book, “The Room Where It Happened,” coincides with retaliatory threats from China over legislation Trump signed Wednesday calling for sanctions over the repression of China’s Uighurs. In stark contrast, Bolton’s book alleges that the president earlier had approved of the mass detention of Uighurs.

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In a 5-4 decision issued this morning, the US Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration’s attempt to cancel Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The majority opinion, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, called the Department of Homeland Security’s attempt to end the program “arbitrary and capricious.” The ruling allows DACA to stay in place for now, ending some of the uncertainty faced by 650,000 undocumented immigrant beneficiaries who were brought to the US as children.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Hawaii yesterday. Officials called the high-level talks “constructive” and included an agreement to improve relations. But long-standing disagreements remain over Hong Kong as well as China’s response to the coronavirus.

And, after an extensive bid to win a rotating seat on the UN Security Council, Canada learned it fell short. The available two-year temporary seats were awarded to Ireland and Norway.

Also, health officials in Germany have temporarily closed a meat processing plant in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia after an outbreak of 650 new cases of the coronavirus was reported.

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