Biden almost certainly has full access to Trump's secretive calls with Putin, other world leaders
President Biden and his national security team have several reasons to learn what former President Donald Trump said to Russian President Vladimir Putin in their dozen-plus conversations. One of them is probably curiosity. "Trump closely guarded his private conversations with foreign leaders while in office, going as far as to have some hidden in the [National Security Council's] top-secret codeword system to limit staffers' and even Cabinet members' access and prevent leaks," Politico notes. Americans typically found out about his conversations with Putin from the Kremlin.
But there are also practical reasons, Politico underscores. "Understanding what was said between the two could help illuminate whether Trump ever revealed sensitive information or struck any deals with the Kremlin leader that could take the new administration by surprise."
"It is a national security priority to find out what Trump said to Putin," a former national security official close to Biden told Politico. "Some things, like what happened in some face-to-face meetings where no American translator or note-taker was present, may never be fully known." But other conversations were memorialized in rough transcripts, called "memcons," or memorandums of conversation, and Biden now has full access to them. Probably.
Subscribe to 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.
"They don't need our approval to see those," a former Trump White House official told Politico. "Biden owns all the call materials. There is only one president at a time." Another former Trump official argued that the Putin calls should be kept private, but legally that doesn't fly, said Kel McClanahan, executive director of the law firm National Security Counselors. "There is literally no situation, nor could there be, where a former president could keep a sitting president from seeing something."
Then "memcons" are considered presidential records and were transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration, a former Trump White House official told Politico. Biden officials did not disclose if they had seen the call records, but they have also not complained about not having access to them.
And the calls may not end up being all that illuminating, former senior Trump advisers told Politico, noting that Marina Gross, who acted as Trump's interpreter on many of his interactions with Putin, "told associates that listening to their conversations often felt like eavesdropping on two friends chatting in a bar." Read more at Politico.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks ground
Speed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resigns
Speed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine cheers House approval of military aid
Speed Read Following a lengthy struggle, the House has approved $95 billion in aid for Ukraine and Israel
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Myanmar: the Spring Revolution and the downfall of the generals
Talking Point An armed protest movement has swept across the country since the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown in 2021
By The Week Staff Published
-
Poland, Germany nab alleged anti-Ukraine spies
Speed Read A man was arrested over a supposed Russian plot to kill Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel hits Iran with retaliatory airstrike
Speed Read The attack comes after Iran's drone and missile barrage last weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is there a peaceful way forward for Israel and Iran?
Today's Big Question Tehran has initially sought to downplay the latest Israeli missile strike on its territory
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Peter Murrell: Sturgeon's husband charged over SNP 'embezzlement' claims
Speed Read SNP expresses 'shock' as former chief executive rearrested in long-running investigation into claims of mishandled campaign funds
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Mark Menzies: Tories investigate MP after 'bad people' cash claims
Speed Read Fylde MP will sit as an independent while party looks into allegations he misused campaign funds on medical expenses and blackmail pay-out
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Why Johnson won't just pass Ukraine aid
Speed Read The House Speaker could have sent $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine — but it would have split his caucus
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published