https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-23-2025
"I’m going to take an early night tonight, but I want to record three things
that jumped out at me today because they seem to tell a story.
After S.V. Date of
HuffPost noted last week that the White House had
published fewer than 20% of Trump’s speeches, the White House has stopped
publishing a database of official transcripts of President Donald J. Trump’s
announcements, appearances, and speeches altogether and has taken down those it
had published. Instead it will just post videos. And yet it is publishing just
a few of the videos of the president’s term: so far, fewer than 50 videos of
the first 120 days of his term, according to Brian Stelter of
CNN.
A presidential administration traditionally publishes the president’s words
promptly to establish a record. The Trump White House, in contrast, says
removing the transcripts will enable people to get a better sense of Trump by
watching his videos. But it’s likely closer to the truth that Trump’s
appearances since he took office have been erratic, and removing the
transcripts will make it harder for people to read his nonsensical rambles.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The Trump White House is
the most transparent in history,” but of course, it’s objectively not. White
House officials have made it impossible to tell who is making decisions at the
Department of Government Efficiency, for example, or who gave the order to
render migrants to El Salvador. Now the president’s words, too, will be
hidden."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
