Transparency takes a hit as Trump admin blacks out all public remarks, with transcripts now 99.5% redacted
The White House under the Trump administration has quietly pulled nearly all official transcripts of the president's public remarks from its website, effectively erasing nearly 99.5% of the written record of what President Donald Trump has said in office during his second term, as per a report.
Trump White House Erases Most Public Record of His Second-Term Remarks
According to a May 15 report by HuffPost, Trump's administration had only released just 29 out of 146 transcripts from his first 100 days in office, an unprecedented lack of disclosure compared to previous administrations, including Trump's own first term, reported HuffPost. But sometime between the evening of Saturday, May 17, and Monday, May 19, even that minimal transparency disappeared, as per the report.
Videos Replaced Transcripts
Instead of transcripts, the White House has replaced the page with a curated collection of videos, just 48 clips in total out of roughly 200 public remarks Trump has made so far, according to HuffPost. The White House also swept away transcripts of Vice President JD Vance and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, HuffPost reported, citing pages preserved by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine tool.
This disappearance of official records comes despite the fact that these transcripts are prepared by nonpartisan civil servants and funded by taxpayers, as per HuffPost. No official reason has been provided for the sudden removal of transcripts, as per the report.
White House Responds
When asked for clarification, the White House did not explain the decision but offered a statement from Leavitt, who highlighted that 'the president's remarks are live on the website for every person in the world, including journalists, to access and watch for themselves. The Trump White House is the most transparent in history,' quoted HuffPost.
Official Response Doesn't Match Reality
However, that statement doesn't reflect the current reality, as observed by HuffPost. The White House website's 'Remarks' web page now contains only a limited selection of videos, with a curated sample of videos of Trump's remarks, with few of the interactions with news media that tend to generate his most outlandish claims or the events in which he exhibited particularly unhinged behaviour, HuffPost reported.
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FAQs
What exactly did the Trump White House remove?
Nearly all official written transcripts of President Trump's public remarks from his second term, about 99.5% of them.
Were transcripts removed for anyone else?
Yes, transcripts for Vice President JD Vance and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt were also removed.
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