ABC News to air Bolton interview shortly before White House memoir release

ABC’s Martha Raddatz will speak with John Bolton next week in his first interview since finishing a White House memoir in which the former national security adviser is expected to reveal aspects of President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.

ABC News said the prime-time special will air on Sunday, just two days before Simon & Schuster releases “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.”

“Bolton will provide a first-hand account of crucial moments including private meetings in the Oval Office, the Putin-Trump summit in Helsinki and the president’s historic meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,” the network said in a statement. “For the first time publicly, Bolton will also present his account of the July 25, 2019 phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and discuss why he didn’t testify during the president’s impeachment trial.”

Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019.

The president has pushed back on Bolton’s reported allegations, arguing that his former aide is making them only “to sell a book.”

“I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book,” he tweeted in late January.

I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. With that being said, the…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2020

Raddatz is chief global affairs correspondent for ABC News and co-anchor of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”