A new report has revealed that Donald Trump’s White House is suppressing the vast majority of transcripts from his speeches and press events—because many of his remarks are simply too unhinged to publish.
According to The Huffington Post, Trump’s staff released only 29 transcripts out of 146 public remarks made during his first 100 days in office. That means about 80% of what Trump has said publicly hasn’t been made available in writing—despite the fact that the stenography office transcribes everything. The reason? Aides apparently think many of Trump’s remarks are so erratic, offensive, or bizarre, they can’t risk putting them in print.
When asked the White House why these taxpayer-funded transcripts were being withheld, Trump communications director Steven Cheung lashed out.
“You must be truly fucking stupid if you think we’re not transparent,” Cheung said in a written statement. “The president regularly does multiple press engagements per day and they are streamed live… We’ve even granted low-level outlets like HuffPo additional access… For anyone to think otherwise proves they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. Stop beclowning yourself.”
What kinds of comments are being kept secret?
One example highlighted by Huffpost is a speech Trump gave to Republicans right after his inaugural address. In that 1,232-word rant, which has not been posted, Trump went on about the January 6 Capitol attack. He falsely blamed Nancy Pelosi, promised “action” on behalf of jailed rioters, and ranted about pardons and deleted hearings, saying, “I was going to talk about the J6 hostages, but you’ll be happy because… you’re going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages, see a lot of action.”
On Feb. 12, during a meeting in the Oval Office, Trump went on a bizarre tangent about the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier, trashing its advanced magnetic launch system. “It was supposed to cost $3 billion; it ended up costing like $18 billion,” he said. “Instead of using hydraulic, like on tractors… they used magnets. It’s a new theory… and it doesn’t work.”
On Feb. 28, in front of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump once again defended Vladimir Putin. “Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” he said, then spun off into a grievance-laced rant about Hunter Biden’s laptop. “It came out of Hunter Biden’s bathroom. It came out of Hunter Biden’s bedroom, it was disgusting.”
Cognitive Bragging and “38 Virgins”
During an April event, Trump told reporters about a cognitive test he says he aced. “Sir, I’ve never seen anybody get that kind of ― that was the highest mark,” he claimed a doctor told him. He added, “Did Biden take one?… What about Obama, did he take one?”
And then there’s Day 102, when Trump spoke in the Rose Garden on the National Day of Prayer. “Imams who I got to know in Michigan. I loved them. They were great, by the way,” Trump said. “They said, ‘We don’t want to die.’ I said, ‘Do you want to die?’ They said, ‘We don’t want to die.’ I said, ‘What about the 38 virgins?’”
Political scientist Norman Ornstein summed it up: “They know the transcripts will reveal, on paper, the word salad and incoherence that characterizes Trump.”
Rick Wilson, a longtime GOP strategist turned Trump critic, didn’t hold back either: “The totality of his statements clearly show that he is utterly fucking off the rails.”
Past White Houses—both Democrat and Republican—routinely released transcripts as public records. Trump’s first term followed that tradition, mostly. His second term? Not even close. The Trump team stopped sending out transcripts within five days of retaking office. They’ve only posted one since mid-March.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center said, “Making the words of the president readily available is part of the accountability obligation of the White House… It’s a mark of a democratic system.”
Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the Biden White House, said it bluntly: “He keeps saying things that are a liability, like talking about dolls and pencils. Or just getting confused.”
The Goal: Make It Harder to Follow What He Says
Yes, video clips of Trump’s public remarks can still be found online. But they aren’t searchable. Without written transcripts, journalists and the public struggle to track what Trump actually said—and how often he contradicts himself. And that may be the whole point.
“Trying to figure out why this White House does what it does requires a skill far beyond mine,” said Jamieson.
Meanwhile, Trump’s team has posted just two softball media interviews: One with Fox’s Sean Hannity, and a brief NASCAR chat with Jamie Little. Most questions aboard Air Force One? Never transcribed. Most press briefings? Never released.
Trump’s team is hiding his own words from the public—because his words are often too chaotic, too false, or just too bizarre to see in black and white. And that’s not just political spin. It’s a deliberate strategy to keep the American people from seeing, in his own words, just how unstable he sounds.
