The Ukraine transcript contains a disclaimer explaining it's not a 'verbatim transcript'

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Evan Vucci/AP)

The transcript of the July phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is out and, well, it's not exactly a transcript.

A disclaimer sits at the bottom of the first page, explaining that the content is actually a memorandum based on the "notes and recollections of Situation Room Duty Officers" and National Security Council policy staff "assigned to listen and memorialize the conversation in written form as the conversation takes place." So, it's not word-for-word.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.