The Room Where It Happened
| Company type | Memoir |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founder | John Bolton |
| Products | Book |
| Owner | Simon & Schuster |
The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir is a memoir authored by John Bolton, who held the position of National Security Advisor under President Donald Trump from April 2018 until September 2019. Reports indicate that publisher Simon & Schuster provided Bolton with an advance payment of $2 million.
A manuscript copy was submitted to the White House in December 2019 for pre-publication clearance. In January 2020, amid President Trump's Senate impeachment trial, news of the book surfaced following reports that several manuscript versions had been disseminated. These disclosures heightened demands for Bolton to testify during the proceedings.
According to Bolton's draft, he and Attorney General William Barr discussed concerns regarding President Trump's influence over Justice Department probes involving corporations in China and Turkey, particularly concerning China's leader Xi Jinping and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Bolton asserts that Trump aimed to bolster his re-election chances by encouraging Xi to increase Chinese purchases of agricultural goods, highlighting their significance in pivotal states. The memoir also portrays Trump's limited grasp of foreign affairs and alleges interference in U.S. law enforcement activities, describing "obstruction of justice as a way of life."
On June 16, 2020, efforts by the Trump administration sought to prevent the book's publication, citing violations of nondisclosure agreements and potential threats to national security. However, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth rejected this injunction on June 20. Although unauthorized copies appeared online by June 21, the official publication proceeded as planned on June 23. Following its release, the Justice Department initiated a criminal inquiry into possible leaks of classified material, issuing subpoenas to the publisher for related documents.
The memoir’s title is inspired by the song "The Room Where It Happens" from the 2015 Broadway production Hamilton.
Contents
Within the memoir, Bolton asserts the following:
United States
- President Trump exhibited a consistent pattern of obstructing U.S. law enforcement, with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone reportedly "plainly stunned at Trump's approach to law enforcement, or lack thereof."
- Bolton recounts that Trump "had to be repeatedly talked out of withdrawing from NATO."
China
- Trump solicited assistance from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aid his re-election campaign by proposing reductions in U.S. tariffs in exchange for increased purchases of American agricultural products critical to swing states.
- The president expressed support for China's establishment of the Xinjiang internment camps targeting the Uyghur minority.
- He declined to publicly condemn China's human rights abuses and refused to issue a statement commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, dismissing it as an event from "15 years ago."
- Trump avoided engagement with the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, remarking, "We have human-rights problems too."
Korea
- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's stance on North Korea was described as "schizophrenic."
- During the 2018 Singapore summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo privately criticized Trump's diplomatic efforts as having "zero probability of success," though he later condemned Bolton's memoir as containing inaccuracies.
- The summit was portrayed as largely motivated by South Korea's "unification" goals rather than a serious strategic initiative from either Kim or the United States.
Europe
- Bolton corroborated the principal allegation in Trump's initial impeachment: that he withheld aid to Ukraine as leverage to compel the Ukrainian government to announce investigations targeting Democrats, notably Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Middle East
- Trump assured Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that he would "handle" the investigation led by Geoffrey Berman into Turkey's state-owned bank, Halkbank, which faced accusations of laundering up to $20 billion for Iranian entities.
- Following the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, Trump defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reportedly aiming to divert attention from Ivanka Trump's email controversy.
- Trump granted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu permission to launch attacks against Iran. In 2019, Netanyahu, Bolton, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo collectively thwarted Trump's attempts to establish diplomatic engagement with Iran.
Venezuela
- Bolton criticizes Washington's inconsistent stance toward Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, attributing erratic decisions by Trump to personal interests and reelection considerations.
- Bolton recounts urging Trump to immediately recognize Juan Guaidó following his presidential claim; however, Trump doubted Guaidó's competence, perceiving him as inexperienced compared to the "rude" Maduro. He also questioned the likelihood of Maduro's removal, describing him as 'too smart and too hard'.
- According to Bolton, Trump viewed Venezuela as effectively "part of the United States" and remarked that an invasion would be both "legal" and "cool".
Publication and release
Simon & Schuster initially delayed the book's publication from March 17 to May 12, 2020, due to an ongoing government security review prior to release. The launch was postponed again until June 23, with the manuscript expanded from 528 to 576 pages. On June 17, excerpts were published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, alongside an exclusive article by Bolton in The Wall Street Journal. An unauthorized digital copy appeared online on June 21. The book officially debuted on June 23, achieving sales of 780,000 copies in its opening week.
Trump administration reactions
During the period of Trump's impeachment trial and amid fears that Bolton might testify, the White House officially threatened to prevent the release of Bolton's book on January 23, citing concerns over national security. Bolton had submitted his manuscript for review by the National Security Council (NSC) in December 2019; by April 27, career official Ellen Knight confirmed that no classification issues remained. Nevertheless, the White House withheld written approval and assigned political appointee Michael Ellis to conduct an additional review in May. The administration asserted that Bolton failed to notify them of his publication plans, while Bolton maintained he was unaware of Ellis's involvement in the review process.
On June 16, 2020, after distribution centers received copies of the book, the Trump administration initiated a lawsuit against Bolton for breach of contract, seeking to reclaim his $2 million advance and alleging that the manuscript contained classified information. The Department of Justice (DOJ) requested a temporary restraining order to halt publication. Despite these legal efforts, media outlets had already begun reporting on the book’s content. Various organizations—including the ACLU, PEN America, and prominent publishers—submitted amicus briefs opposing the government's request. Simon & Schuster, the publisher, condemned the lawsuit as an attempt to suppress an unfavorable narrative and infringe upon Bolton's First Amendment rights.
Bolton’s legal counsel contended that the administration intentionally delayed the review process to obstruct release during the 2020 election period and emphasized a 30-working-day limit for prepublication review stipulated in Bolton’s 2018 agreement. Trump described the book as "highly classified" while simultaneously dismissing it as "pure fiction."
In its June 17 court filing, the DOJ identified six instances of allegedly classified material, some deemed "exceptionally restricted," which could compromise intelligence sources. Due to review constraints, Bolton’s book paraphrased Trump's statements rather than quoting directly; for example, it recounted Trump pleading with Xi Jinping for assistance in securing re-election. However, leaked excerpts from the manuscript included explicit quotations.
At a hearing on June 19, Judge Royce Lamberth criticized Bolton for circumventing formal clearance procedures but expressed skepticism about blocking publication. The DOJ acknowledged that Ellis lacked prior experience with classified reviews and that numerous flagged items were newly classified during Ellis's examination. Notably, no statement from Knight was presented. After reviewing evidence behind closed doors, Lamberth ruled on June 20 that although Bolton likely disclosed classified information and posed national security risks, the government failed to demonstrate that an injunction would prevent irreparable harm and therefore denied the restraining order. He also rejected demands for nationwide seizure or destruction of the memoir as inappropriate remedies. Bolton’s attorney welcomed the decision but challenged the court’s preliminary conclusion that Bolton breached his prepublication obligations.
In September 2020, Knight claimed that White House officials overruled her classification judgments and pressured her to leave the NSC after she refused to support a statement endorsing legal action against Bolton.
On October 1, Lamberth allowed the government’s lawsuit to proceed, dismissing defense arguments that Bolton needed awareness of classification to be held liable and that Knight’s assurances negated such knowledge.
The DOJ concluded its criminal investigation into Bolton in June 2021 and discontinued efforts to seize proceeds from his book sales.
Reactions
On June 22, South Korea expressed disapproval of Bolton's depiction of the 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit. National security adviser Chung Eui-yong remarked that the unilateral disclosure of confidential discussions breaches diplomatic norms and risks undermining upcoming negotiations.
During an interview with ABC News on June 18, 2020, Bolton addressed President Trump's tweets labeling him a "wacko" and dismissing his book as "lies and made up stories." Bolton argued that the president is more concerned about the American public accessing the book than foreign governments.
Turkey also criticized Bolton's publication, accusing it of presenting distorted accounts of exchanges between Trump and President Erdoğan.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo branded Bolton a "traitor," asserting that Bolton disseminates falsehoods despite Pompeo's direct knowledge of the events in question.
The book’s title, The Room Where It Happens, is derived from a song in the musical Hamilton. In reaction, creator Lin-Manuel Miranda shared altered lyrics on Twitter, reproaching Bolton for exploiting the musical’s material instead of cooperating with congressional investigations.
Reviews
German writer Klaus Brinkbäumer, a contributor to Die Zeit based in New York, condemned the book as "cowardly [and] stupid... So submissive and vain; and apolitical, so amazingly unhistorical and unintelligent," suggesting its creation was motivated by the $2 million advance Bolton received.
In a review by Jennifer Szalai for The New York Times, the book was characterized as "exceedingly tedious and slightly unhinged," overloaded with "minute and often extraneous details" and marked by excessive self-importance.
Peter Conrad, writing for The Guardian, described it as a "punchy but self-aggrandising memoir," highlighting that despite the title’s implication, Bolton was absent during Trump's Helsinki summit with Putin, where Putin appeared dominant and Trump seemed diminished.