The Room Where It Happened

Last updated

The Room Where It Happened:
A White House Memoir
The Room Where It Happened - cover.jpg
Author John Bolton
Publisher Simon & Schuster
Publication date
June 23, 2020 [1]
ISBN 9781982148034

The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir is a memoir by John Bolton, who served as National Security Advisor for U.S. President Donald Trump from April 2018 to September 2019. [2] [3] Bolton was reportedly paid an advance of $2 million. [4]

Contents

In late December 2019, one copy of the manuscript was provided to the White House for standard pre-publication review. In late January 2020, during the Senate impeachment trial, news of the book broke. Bolton's team was surprised that multiple copies of the manuscript had apparently been made and circulated. [5] Leaked information about the book's contents increased the pressure for having Bolton testify in the Senate trial of Trump. [6]

According to Bolton's original draft manuscript, William Barr and Bolton had a conversation about concerns Trump had appeared to have undue influence over two US Justice Department investigations of companies in China and Turkey; specifically regarding China's paramount leader Xi Jinping with regard to ZTE and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with regard to Halkbank. [7] [8] [9] Bolton alleged that Trump, in an attempt to win re-election in agricultural states in the 2020 election, "[pleaded] with Xi to ensure he'd win. [Trump] stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome". (Bolton also wrote that he wanted to directly quote Trump, but could not due to "the government's pre-publication review process".) He also stated that Trump asked if Finland was a part of Russia, and was unaware the United Kingdom is a nuclear power. Bolton alleged Trump intervened in U.S. law enforcement and practiced "obstruction of justice as a way of life." [10] [11]

On June 16, 2020, the Trump administration sought to block release of the book by Simon & Schuster, [12] contending that Bolton had breached nondisclosure agreements he signed as a condition of his employment and that the book endangered national security. [4] U.S. federal judge Royce Lamberth denied this request on June 20. [4] On June 21, pirated copies of the book appeared online. [13] The book was released on June 23. [14] Later that summer, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into whether the book revealed classified information, empaneling a grand jury that subpoenaed the publisher's communications records. [15]

The book is named after the song "The Room Where It Happens" from the 2015 stage musical Hamilton . [16]

Content

In the book, Bolton claims that:

United States

China

Korea

Europe

Middle East

Venezuela

Publication and release

On March 3, 2020, Simon & Schuster pushed back the release date from March 17 to May 12, saying that the "new date reflects the fact that the government [pre-publication security] review of the work is ongoing". [31] On April 29, the release date was pushed from May 12 to June 23 and the book length was increased from 528 to 576 pages. [32] On June 17, 2020, The Washington Post and The New York Times published excerpts from the book after having obtained pre-publication copies, [18] [10] and The Wall Street Journal published an "exclusive excerpt" from the book with a byline by John Bolton. [19] On June 21, a pirated copy of the book appeared online. [13] On June 23, the book was released as scheduled. [14] In its first week, the book sold 780,000 copies. [33]

Trump administration responses

As Trump faced an impeachment trial that raised the possibility Bolton might provide testimony, the White House on January 23 issued a formal threat to stop Bolton from publishing his book, citing national security concerns. [34] Bolton had submitted his manuscript to the National Security Council for security review in December 2019, and after months of discussions, was told on April 27 by Ellen Knight—the NSC's senior director for prepublication review—that no other classification issues remained. However, the White House did not provide Bolton written notice that he could proceed with publication, and in May another NSC official, Michael Ellis, was assigned to further review the manuscript. [12] [35] Knight is a career NSC staffer, while Ellis was acting at the direction of Trump political appointees under national security advisor Robert O'Brien. The Trump administration asserted that Bolton did not inform it of his decision to proceed with publication, while Bolton asserts he was not advised of the second review by Ellis. [35]

On June 16, 2020—after the book had been shipped to distribution warehouses awaiting official release the following week—the Trump administration filed a civil lawsuit against Bolton in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging breach of contract for failing to submit his manuscript for prepublication security review, seeking to confiscate his $2 million advance, asserting the manuscript was "rife with classified information." [36] The next day, the Department of Justice filed an emergency application for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Bolton, "seeking to enjoin publication of a book containing classified information." [37] By that day, media outlets had acquired copies of the book and had begun publishing articles on its contents. [38] [10]

Several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, PEN American Center, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Association of American Publishers, Dow Jones & Company, The New York Times Company, and The Washington Post filed amicus briefs opposing the motion for a temporary restraining order. [39] [40] [41] Simon & Schuster released a statement calling the lawsuit "nothing more than the latest in a long running series of efforts by the Administration to quash publication of a book it deems unflattering to the President" and an attempt to infringe Bolton's "First Amendment right to tell the story of his time in the White House to the American public". [42]

Bolton's attorney, Chuck Cooper, asserted that the White House was slow-walking the review process to prevent the book, which contained extensive harsh criticism of Trump, from being released during the 2020 election campaign. Cooper had written to Knight when he submitted the manuscript in December, to recount a phone conversation they'd had, stating, "it is our understanding that the process of reviewing submitted materials is restricted to those career government officials and employees regularly charged with responsibility for such reviews. Accordingly, we understand that the contents of Ambassador Bolton's manuscript will not be reviewed or otherwise disclosed to any persons not regularly involved in that process." His letter also noted that, per Bolton's 2018 agreement with the government, there was a 30 working-day limit for the prepublication review. [43] Trump asserted the book contained "highly classified" information but also characterized the book as "pure fiction."

In its June 17 brief filed with the court, the Justice Department provided six examples of what it asserted were classified items that remained in the book, including some characterized as "exceptionally restricted," meaning they could jeopardize intelligence sources and methods. Trump had previously asserted that every conversation with him is "highly classified," and Bolton stated in his book that the prepublication review prohibited him from quoting the president's exact words but not from characterizing what Trump said. For example, Bolton characterized Trump as "pleading with Xi to ensure he'd win" the 2020 election, while Vanity Fair —citing the original manuscript it had seen—showed Bolton quoted Trump telling Xi, "Make sure I win" and "I will probably win anyway, so don't hurt my farms.… Buy a lot of soybeans and wheat and make sure we win." [44] [45] [46] [10]

During a hearing on June 19, Justice Lamberth castigated Bolton for proceeding to publish his book without formal clearance, but expressed doubt he could block publication. A Justice Department attorney acknowledged that Ellis had received no training in reviewing classified information until that month, and that as many as half of the items Ellis had marked as classified may not have been so when Bolton wrote his manuscript, and Ellis' review was the first time they were flagged. [47] [48] [49] [10] [35] [50] [51] Both Lamberth and Cooper noted that while the Justice Department provided an affidavit from Ellis in its brief, it did not include any statement from Knight. After the hearing, which was held via video conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lamberth reviewed the Justice Department evidence in a closed-door session. [52]

On June 20, Judge Lamberth ruled that "Bolton likely published classified materials" and "has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability," but denied the government's motion for a temporary restraining order, as "the government has failed to establish that an injunction will prevent irreparable harm." [53] [4] [54] [55] Lamberth elaborated: "While Bolton's unilateral conduct raises grave national security concerns, the government has not established that an injunction is an appropriate remedy. For reasons that hardly need to be stated, the Court will not order nationwide seizure and destruction of a political memoir." [4] Cooper welcomed the "decision by the Court denying the Government's attempt to suppress Ambassador Bolton's book" but disagreed "with the Court's preliminary conclusion at this early stage of the case that Ambassador Bolton did not comply fully with his contractual prepublication obligation to the Government." [4] Cooper had argued before Lamberth the previous day that the particular version of the agreement Bolton had signed did not require that he receive written clearance to proceed to publication. [47]

In September 2020, Knight asserted that her decisions about what in the book should be deemed classified were overridden by White House officials, notably legal advisors close to the president. She claimed she was forced out of the NSC after she declined to sign a statement that would support a government lawsuit against Bolton for publishing his book without White House authorization. [56] [57]

Lamberth ruled on October 1 that the government suit could proceed, rejecting the defense argument that a close parsing of Bolton's nondisclosure agreements showed they required he be aware he was publishing classified information to be charged and that Knight's verbal assurances established that he was not aware. [58]

The Justice Department dropped its criminal inquiry of Bolton in June 2021 and moved to end efforts to confiscate proceeds from his book. [59]

Reactions

On June 22, South Korea took issue with Bolton's account of events surrounding the 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit, with South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-yong saying that "[u]nilaterally publishing consultations made based on mutual trust violates the basic principles of diplomacy and could severely damage future negotiations." [60]

On June 18, 2020, during an ABC News interview, Bolton gave his rebuttal to Trump's previous tweets in which Trump called him a "wacko" and a "sick puppy" and that Bolton's book is "a compilation of lies and made up stories" by saying that "[t]he president isn't worried about foreign governments reading this book. He's worried about the American people reading this book." [61]

Turkey criticized Bolton's book, saying it included misleading accounts of conversations between Trump and Turkish President Erdoğan. [62]

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Bolton of being a "traitor". Pompeo claimed that "from the excerpts I've seen published, John Bolton is spreading a number of lies, fully-spun half-truths and outright falsehoods … I was in the room too." [63]

Bolton used the title of one of the musical Hamilton 's songs, "The Room Where It Happens", as the title of his book. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the musical, reacted by posting the rewritten lyrics of another Hamilton song on Twitter: "Let me tell you what I wish I'd known/When I was young and dreamed of glory/You have no control/Who lives, who dies, who [borrows your song title to write a cash-in book when they could have testified before Congress] tells your story...". [64]

Reviews

German author Klaus Brinkbäumer, a New York-based contributor to the weekly newspaper Die Zeit , criticized the book as "cowardly [and] stupid... So submissive and vain; and apolitical, so amazingly unhistorical and unintelligent." Brinkbäumer goes on to say that the book only exists due to the $2 million advance payment Bolton received. [65]

The New York Times book review by Jennifer Szalai called the book "exceedingly tedious and slightly unhinged", 500 pages of "minute and often extraneous details" and "bloated with self-importance". [66]

The Guardian book review by Peter Conrad said it was a "punchy but self-aggrandising memoir" and that, "[d]espite the promise of the book's title, Bolton was not in the room during Trump's extended confab with Putin in Helsinki, from which Putin emerged as cockily as a strutting bantam while Trump stumbled out like a trodden hen with ruffled feathers." [67]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bolton</span> American lawyer and diplomat (born 1948)

John Robert Bolton is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United States National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royce Lamberth</span> American judge (born 1943)

Royce Charles Lamberth is a senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, who formerly served as its chief judge. Since 2015, he has sat as a visiting judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Hook</span> American lawyer and government official (born 1968)

Brian H. Hook is an American diplomat, lawyer and government official. In 2021, he joined Cerberus Capital Management as vice chairman for global investments. He is an adjunct professor at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Pompeo</span> American politician (born 1963)

Michael Richard Pompeo is an American politician who served in the administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United States secretary of state from 2018 to 2021. He also served in the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First presidency of Donald Trump</span>

The first presidency of Donald Trump began on January 20, 2017, when Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, in which he lost the popular vote to Clinton by nearly three million votes. Upon his inauguration, he became the first president in American history without prior public office or military background. Trump made an unprecedented number of false or misleading statements during his campaign and presidency. His presidency ended following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election to former Democratic vice president Joe Biden, after one term in office.

U.S. foreign policy during the presidency of Donald Trump (2017–2021) was noted for its unpredictability and reneging on prior international commitments, upending diplomatic conventions, embracing political and economic brinkmanship with most adversaries, and stronger relations with traditional allies. Trump's "America First" policy pursued nationalist foreign policy objectives and prioritized bilateral relations over multinational agreements. As president, Trump described himself as a nationalist while espousing views that have been characterized as isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist, although the "isolationist" label has been disputed, including by Trump himself, and periods of his political career have been described by the alternative term "semi-isolationist." He personally praised some populist, neo-nationalist, illiberal, and authoritarian governments, while antagonizing others, even as administration diplomats nominally continued to pursue pro-democracy ideals abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Trump's disclosures of classified information</span> Disclosures by the 21st-century US president

Donald Trump's handling of United States government records, especially those containing classified information, during his tenure as the 45th U.S. president has come under scrutiny. A number of incidents in which the president disclosed classified information to foreign powers and private individuals have become publicly known, sometimes with distinct national security and diplomatic consequences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Biegun</span> American businessman and diplomat (born 1963)

Stephen Edward Biegun is an American businessman and diplomat who served as the United States deputy secretary of state from December 2019 to January 2021 and United States Special Representative for North Korea from August 2018 to January 2021, vice president of international governmental affairs for the Ford Motor Company, staffer on the National Security Council, as well as national security adviser to Senator Bill Frist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit</span> Meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un

The 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit, commonly known as the Singapore Summit, was a summit meeting between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, held at the Capella Hotel, Sentosa, Singapore, on June 12, 2018. It was the first-ever meeting between leaders of North Korea and the United States. They signed a joint statement, agreeing to security guarantees for North Korea, new peaceful relations, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, recovery of soldiers' remains, and follow-up negotiations between high-level officials. Both leaders also met separately with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The following is a timeline of the presidency of Donald Trump during the second quarter of 2018, from April 1 to June 30, 2018. To navigate among quarters, see timeline of the Donald Trump presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proposed Peace Treaty on the Korean Peninsula</span> Proposed peace treaty for Korea

The Peace Treaty on Korean Peninsula is a proposed settlement to formally end military hostilities on the Korean Peninsula as a follow-up to the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement implemented by the United Nations after the Korean War. During the inter-Korean summit on April 27, 2018, Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in signed the Panmunjom Declaration; the declaration involved an agreement about mutual efforts and action items for transforming the armistice agreement into a peace treaty with the cooperation of the United States and China. During the 2018 Trump–Kim summit, US president Donald Trump and Kim signed a Joint Statement which reaffirmed the Panmunjom Declaration. On November 23, 2023, North Korea terminated its 2018 agreement with South Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration</span> 2018 anonymous essay

"I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration" is an anonymous essay published by The New York Times on September 5, 2018. The author was described as a senior Trump administration official. About a week before the 2020 United States presidential election, Miles Taylor, who had been deputy chief of staff to the Department of Homeland Security's secretary Kirstjen Nielsen when writing the essay, revealed himself as the author. The op-ed criticizes Donald Trump and states that many current members of the administration deliberately undermine his suggestions and orders for the good of the country. It also states that some cabinet members in the early days of the administration discussed using the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution as a way to remove the president from power.

The 2018–19 Korean peace process was initiated to resolve the long-running Korean conflict and denuclearize Korea. International concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons came to a head in 2017, when they posed a direct threat to the United States. At the same time, Moon Jae-in was elected president of South Korea with the promise of returning to the Sunshine Policy, favoring good relations with North Korea. A series of summits were held between North Korea's Kim Jong Un, South Korea's Moon, and Donald Trump of the United States. Trump became the first sitting US President to meet a North Korean leader and to enter North Korean territory. Kim became the first North Korean leader to enter South Korean territory. Moon became the first South Korean President to give a speech in North Korea. In parallel to this, a number of cultural exchanges began. Tensions were lowered on both sides of the DMZ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Koreas–United States DMZ Summit</span> Meeting at the Korean Demilitarised Zone

The 2019 Koreas–United States DMZ Summit was a one-day summit held at the Korean Demilitarized Zone between North Korean chairman Kim Jong Un, U.S. president Donald Trump, and South Korean president Moon Jae-in, following the 2019 G20 Osaka summit. Trump briefly stepped over the border at 3:45 PM (GMT+9) on June 30, marking the first time a sitting U.S. president had set foot on North Korean soil. It was also the second time since the end of the Korean War in 1953 that a North Korean leader entered the South's territory, following the April 2018 inter-Korean summit. Senior White House advisors Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner also attended the summit, with Ivanka Trump and U.S. envoy to South Korea Harry B. Harris Jr. holding a meeting with Kim later broadcast on North Korean television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trump–Ukraine scandal</span> U.S. political scandal that began in 2019

The Trump–Ukraine scandal was a political scandal that arose primarily from the discovery of U.S. President Donald Trump's attempts to coerce Ukraine into investigating his political rival Joe Biden and thus potentially damage Biden's campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination. Trump enlisted surrogates in and outside his administration, including personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, to pressure Ukraine and other governments to cooperate in supporting and legitimizing the bogus Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory and other conspiracy theories concerning US politics. Trump blocked payment of a congressionally-mandated $400 million military aid package, in an attempt to obtain quid pro quo cooperation from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Contacts were established between the White House and government of Ukraine, culminating in a call between Trump and Zelenskyy on July 25, 2019.

Michael Ellis is an American attorney, Republican political operative, and former government official. He is a visiting fellow for law and technology with The Heritage Foundation's Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Ellis previously worked in multiple positions in the George W. Bush administration, for Republican congressman Devin Nunes and the first Trump administration, being called a Donald Trump loyalist. He worked as a legal advisor to the National Security Council and was later appointed as Senior Director for Intelligence for the agency. In December 2021, he became the general counsel for the online video platform Rumble.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conspiracy theories related to the Trump–Ukraine scandal</span> Dispute about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections

Since 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his allies have promoted several conspiracy theories related to the Trump–Ukraine scandal. One such theory seeks to blame Ukraine, instead of Russia, for interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. Also among the conspiracy theories are accusations against Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, and several elements of the right-wing Russia investigation origins counter-narrative. American intelligence believes that Russia engaged in a years long campaign to frame Ukraine for the 2016 election interference, that the Kremlin is the prime mover behind promotion of the fictitious alternative narratives, and that these are harmful to the United States. FBI director Christopher A. Wray stated to ABC News that "We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election" and that "as far as the [2020] election itself goes, we think Russia represents the most significant threat."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First impeachment trial of Donald Trump</span> 2020 trial in the US Senate

The first impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, began in the U.S. Senate on January 16, 2020, and concluded with his acquittal on February 5. After an inquiry between September and November 2019, President Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on December 18, 2019; the articles of impeachment charged him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. It was the third impeachment trial of a U.S. president, preceded by those of Andrew Johnson and of Bill Clinton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FBI search of Mar-a-Lago</span> 2022 FBI search of Donald Trumps home

On August 8, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, the residence of former U.S. president Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of government documents</span>

Plasmic Echo was the codename for a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified and national defense-related government documents beginning in 2022, looking for possible violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice.

References

  1. Lippman, Daniel (April 29, 2020). "Bolton book release pushed back again, to late June". Politico. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  2. Reid, Paula; Becket, Stefan (January 27, 2020). "Report: Bolton book says Trump tied Ukraine military aid to Biden probe". CBS News . Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  3. Weiland, Noah (January 26, 2020). "5 Takeaways on Trump and Ukraine From John Bolton's Book". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Spencer S. Hsu, U.S. judge declines to block release of book by former national security adviser John Bolton Archived February 9, 2021, at the Wayback Machine , Washington Post (June 20, 2020).
  5. Brigham, Bob (January 27, 2020). "Bolton book leaked after the White House made copies of the single manuscript they were given: report". The Raw Story . Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  6. Ballhaus, Rebecca; Hughes, Siobhan (January 27, 2020). "Pressure Grows for Bolton to Testify at Impeachment Trial". Msn.com . Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  7. Lipton, Eric; Rappeport, Alan (January 28, 2020). "Bolton Book Puts New Focus on Trump's Actions in Turkey and China Cases". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  8. LeBlanc, Paul (January 28, 2020). "New York Times: Bolton wrote he was concerned Trump was granting favors to autocratic leaders". CNN. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 "Libro de John Bolton: 4 revelaciones sobre Trump en las polémicas memorias cuya publicación quiere impedir la Casa Blanca" (in Spanish). London: BBC. June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Baker, Peter (June 17, 2020). "Bolton Says Trump Impeachment Inquiry Missed Other Troubling Actions". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  11. 1 2 Sommerfeldt, Chris (June 17, 2020). "John Bolton book says Trump gave 'favors to dictators,' confirms he bullied Ukraine". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  12. 1 2 Haberman, Maggie; Benner, Katie (June 16, 2020). "Trump Administration Asks Judge to Stop Publication of Bolton's Book". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  13. 1 2 "Pirated editions of Bolton's book appearing online". Politico. Associated Press. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  14. 1 2 Libby Cathey, Bolton book releases Tuesday even as judge says his profits might be seized, ABC News (June 23, 2020).
  15. Benner, Katie (September 15, 2020). "Justice Dept. Opens Criminal Inquiry Into John Bolton's Book". The New York Times.
  16. Truitt, Brian (June 18, 2020). "Lin-Manuel Miranda throws 'Hamilton' shade at John Bolton's Trump book title". USA Today. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  17. Swan, Jonathan; Savage, Charlie; Haberman, Maggie (December 9, 2023). "Fears of a NATO Withdrawal Rise as Trump Seeks a Return to Power". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  18. 1 2 Dawsey, Josh (June 17, 2020). "Trump asked China's Xi to help him win reelection, according to Bolton book". Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  19. 1 2 3 Bolton, John (June 17, 2020). "John Bolton: The Scandal of Trump's China Policy". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  20. 1 2 "'Who cares about that?': Bolton said Trump wouldn't make a statement on the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre because he was prioritizing a deal with China". Business Insider. June 17, 2020.
  21. Rummler, Orion (June 19, 2020). "Pompeo calls Bolton 'a traitor' over upcoming tell-all book". Axios.
  22. Kim, Min Joo; Hudson, John (June 22, 2020). "South Korea says Bolton's claims on Trump-Kim summit distorted". The Washington Post.
  23. Haberman, Maggie; Schmidt, Michael S. (June 23, 2020). "Trump Tied Ukraine Aid to Inquiries He Sought, Bolton Book Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  24. "John Bolton urged to elaborate on Trump-Erdoğan claims". The Guardian. June 18, 2020.
  25. "Trump defended Saudi leader after Khashoggi's murder to distract from Ivanka's email scandal: Bolton". Salon. June 18, 2020.
  26. "Trump supported Israeli attack on Iran, John Bolton writes in tell-all memoir". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. June 22, 2020. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  27. "John Bolton Can Stomach Kim Jong Un's North Korea, but Not Iran". Foreign Policy. June 25, 2020.
  28. "How Bolton, Netanyahu and Pompeo Sabotaged Trump's Dream of Talks With Iran". Haaretz. June 21, 2020.
  29. 1 2 3 Mesa, Jesús (June 23, 2020). "Colombia y Venezuela, co-protagonistas en el libro de John Bolton". El Espectador (in Spanish). Bogotá: Comunican S.A. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  30. 1 2 3 Shifter, Michael (June 25, 2020). "Venezuela entre dos torpezas: la de Trump y la de Bolton". The New York Times (in Spanish). New York. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  31. Stelter, Brian (March 3, 2020). "John Bolton's book has been delayed until May due to White House review". CNN. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  32. Italie, Hillel (April 29, 2020). "John Bolton's book about his time in the Trump White House again delayed, this time to June 23". USA Today . Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  33. Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A. (July 1, 2020). "John Bolton Memoir Sells Over 780,000 Copies in First Week". The Wall Street Journal.
  34. Tapper, Jake (January 30, 2020). "White House has issued formal threat to Bolton to keep him from publishing book". CNN. Archived from the original on May 28, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  35. 1 2 3 Benner, Katie; Savage, Charlie (June 18, 2020). "Targeting Bolton, Justice Dept. Again in Alignment With Trump's Desires". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  36. Van Horn, Daniel; Gerardi, Michael (June 16, 2020). "United States v. Bolton Complaint". Court Listener. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  37. Hunt, Joseph H.; Sherwin, Michael; Davis, Ethan; Morrell, David; Haas, Alexander; Van Horn, Daniel; Gerardi, Michael (June 17, 2020). "Emergency Application for Temporary Restraining Order and Motion for Preliminary Injunction". Court Listener. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  38. Bender, Michael C.; Ballhaus, Rebecca (June 17, 2020). "Trump Put Re-Election Prospects Ahead of National Interest, Bolton Alleges". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  39. Kaufman, Brett; Jaffer, Jameel; Spitzer, Arthur B. (June 19, 2020). "Brief Of American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union Of The District Of Columbia, And Knight First Amendment Institute At Columbia University As Amici Curiae in Support Of Defendant's Opposition To The Government's Emergency Application For A Temporary Restraining Order And Motion For A Preliminary Injunction". Court Listener. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  40. Benavidez, Nora; Boutous, Theodore (June 19, 2020). "Brief Of PEN American Center, Inc. As Amicus Curiae In Support Of Defendant". Court Listener.
  41. Brown, Bruce (June 19, 2020). "Brief Of The Reporters Committee For Freedom Of The Press, The Association Of American Publishers, Inc., Dow Jones & Company, Inc., The New York Times Company, And The Washington Post As Amici Curiae In Support Of Defendant's Opposition To Plaintiff's Emergency Application For A Temporary Restraining Order And Motion For Preliminary Injunction". Court Listener. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  42. Johnson, Ted (June 16, 2020). "John Bolton's Publisher Simon & Schuster: DOJ Lawsuit Is Latest Effort To Quash 'Unflattering' Book About Donald Trump". Deadline. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  43. "Cooper & Kirk" (PDF).
  44. "Trump pleaded with China's president to buy US agricultural products to help him win the 2020 election, John Bolton's new book says". Business Insider.
  45. "'Make Sure I Win': John Bolton's Unredacted Book Shows What Trump Was Really Trying to Hide". Vanity Fair. June 18, 2020. Archived from the original on July 1, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  46. "Trump claims 'every' conversation is classified ahead of Bolton book – but experts say otherwise". The Independent. June 16, 2020. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  47. 1 2 Benner, Katie; Savage, Charlie (June 18, 2020). "Targeting Bolton, Justice Dept. Again in Alignment With Trump's Desires". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  48. Savage, Charlie (June 17, 2020). "Justice Dept. Escalates Legal Fight With Bolton Over Book". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  49. Rummler, Orion (June 18, 2020). "DOJ applies for emergency restraining order to block Bolton's book". Axios. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  50. "U.S. judge blasts Bolton for abandoning classified information review but doubts he can bar book publication". Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  51. "White House seeks emergency order to block release of John Bolton's book". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  52. Savage, Charlie (June 20, 2020). "Judge Rejects Trump Request for Order Blocking Bolton's Memoir". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  53. Lamberth, Royce (June 20, 2020). "Memorandum Order". Court Listener. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  54. "Judge: Bolton Can Publish Book Despite Efforts to Block It". AP via The New York Times. June 20, 2020. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  55. Tucker, Eric (June 20, 2020). "Judge: Bolton can publish book despite efforts to block it". AP. Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  56. Schmidt, Michael S.; Savage, Charlie (September 23, 2020). "White House Accused of Improperly Politicizing Review of John Bolton's Book". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  57. Katelyn Polantz (September 23, 2020). "Ex-NSC official accuses White House of trying to block Bolton book to satisfy Trump". CNN. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  58. Savage, Charlie (October 1, 2020). "Government Lawsuit Over John Bolton's Memoir May Proceed, Judge Rules". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 11, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  59. Schmidt, Michael S.; Benner, Katie (June 16, 2021). "Justice Dept. Ends Criminal Inquiry, Lawsuit on John Bolton's Book". The New York Times.
  60. Shin, Hyonhee (June 22, 2020). "South Korea says Bolton's account of Trump-Kim summits is distorted". The Globe and Mail Inc. Reuters. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  61. "John Bolton responds to President Trump's tweets about new memoir". ABC News . June 18, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  62. "Turkey says Bolton's book 'misleading' on Erdogan-Trump conversations". Reuters. June 25, 2020. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  63. "Pompeo slams Bolton account as spreading 'lies,' 'fully-spun half-truths' and 'falsehoods'". The Hill. June 18, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  64. Truitt, Brian (June 18, 2020). "Lin-Manuel Miranda throws 'Hamilton' shade at John Bolton's Trump book title". USA Today . Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  65. "Ein Haufen Feiglinge (Original in German)". www.zeit.de – Zeit Online. June 23, 2020. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  66. Szalai, Jennifer (September 23, 2020). "In 'The Room Where It Happened,' John Bolton Dumps His Notes and Smites His Enemies". The New York Times . Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  67. Conrad, Peter (June 28, 2020). "The Room Where It Happened by John Bolton review – a monument to his own grandiosity". The Guardian . Retrieved July 2, 2022.

Footnotes

  1. Bolton, John (2020). The Room Where It Happened. p. 301. Chung also reflected Moon Jae-in's schizophrenic idea that while we were right to reject North Korea's 'action for action' formula, Kim's willingness to dismantle Yongbyon (never defined clearly) was a very meaningful first step, showing that the North had entered an irreversible stage of denuclearization.