White House reportedly concealed transcripts of Trump phone calls with MBS, Putin

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

The Ukraine call might not have been a singular occurrence.

White House officials reportedly similarly restricted access to President Trump's phone calls with the Saudi royal family and Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the case of Trump's call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the wake of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder, some officials who normally would have been granted access to a rough transcript never saw one. A source told CNN that a transcript was never circulated at all, and The New York Times reports that restrictions were set before the call even took place. Access to at least one of Trump's conversations with Putin was also reportedly tightly restricted.

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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.