John Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, says that he hopes his latest book will see the light of day, CNN reports.
“I hope it’s not suppressed,” Bolton told an audience at Duke University on Monday. “I say things in the manuscript about what [Trump] said to me. I hope they become public someday.”
The White House has threatened to stop the publication of Bolton’s book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, saying it contains “significant amounts of classified information.” The Trump administration is currently reviewing the contents of the book, which may or may not be published next month.
Washington observers have been especially curious about what Bolton’s book might say about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, which led to his recent impeachment trial.
“For all the focus on Ukraine and [the] impeachment trial, to me there are portions of the manuscript that deal with Ukraine—I view that as the sprinkles on an ice cream sundae, in terms of the book,” Bolton said. “This is an effort to write history. I did the best I can...We’ll see what happens with the censorship.”
When asked about Trump’s 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Bolton responded, “You'll love Chapter 14.”
The Room Where It Happened is scheduled for publication—White House censors willing—on March 17.
Michael Schaub is an Austin, Texas–based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
