May 23, 2025.

I want to record three things that jumped out to me today, because they seem to tell a story.

After Svidate of Huff Post 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 that 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 Carolyn Levitt 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 was 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. Trump's erratic

behavior was on full display this morning when he announced that he will impose a 50% tariff on goods

from the European Union on June 1st, suggesting he is frustrated because his promises of a new

trade deal have failed to materialize.

Trump had threatened to stop negotiating and simply dictate terms, and that's apparently the direction

he's moving. I'm not looking for a deal, he said this afternoon. We've set the deal. It's at 50%.

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