White House aides have reportedly long been tasked with keeping Trump call details under wraps
White House staffers didn't just recently start keeping details about President Trump's calls with foreign leaders under wraps, several people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post on Thursday.
Earlier in his presidency, Trump was "enraged" when transcripts of calls he had with foreign leaders leaked, so changes were made, the Post says. The White House removed several people from the list of government officials with permission to review memos about calls, and cut the number of aides able to listen in on conversations. Officials who delivered call memos had to sign for them, the thinking being if they leaked, it would be easier to find the source. Former senior administration officials also told the Post that last year, Trump aides were so paranoid that Defense Department employees might share call transcripts, they told them they had to return the documents.
The whistleblower complaint about Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alleges that at the order of lawyers in the White House counsel's office, the transcript of their conversation was "loaded into a separate electronic system that is otherwise used to store and handle classified information of an especially sensitive level." One White House official told the whistleblower this was "an abuse of this electronic system because the call did not contain anything remotely sensitive from a national security perspective." During the call, Trump asked Zelensky to work with Attorney General William Barr and lawyer Rudy Giuliani to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Read more about the efforts to keep phone call details secret at The Washington Post.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Why Britain is struggling to stop the ransomware cyberattacksThe Explainer New business models have greatly lowered barriers to entry for criminal hackers
-
Greene’s rebellion: a Maga hardliner turns against TrumpIn the Spotlight The Georgia congresswoman’s independent streak has ‘not gone unnoticed’ by the president
-
Crossword: October 26, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s rebellion: Maga hardliner turns on TrumpIn the Spotlight The Georgia congresswoman’s independent streak has ‘not gone unnoticed’ by the president
-
‘Congratulations on your house, but maybe try a greyhound instead’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump wants to exert control over federal architectureThe Explainer Beyond his ballroom, Trump has several other architectural plans in mind
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Whistles emerge as Chicago’s tool to fight ICEIN THE SPOTLIGHT As federal agents continue raiding the city, communities have turned to noisemakers to create a warning system
-
Will California’s Proposition 50 kill gerrymandering reform?Talking Points Or is opposing Trump the greater priority for voters?
