Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Donald Trump's Former Stenographer Just Explained Why Trump Never Wants His Meetings Recorded, and It's Savage AF

She would know.

Make us preferred on Google

It's no secret that President Donald Trump often pillories truth and contradicts himself, so it's no surprise he doesn't like having his meetings recorded, as previous presidents have.

On Tuesday, a former White House stenographer authored an op-ed in the New York Times detailing why the 45th president is so averse to being on the record.


Beck Dorey-Stein served as a record-keeper in the White House from 2012-2017, serving both President Barack Obama and Trump in the early days of his presidency. In her op-ed, Dorey-Stein offers a compelling but simple reason Trump doesn't like being recorded.

She asks:

"Mr. Trump likes to call anyone who disagrees with him 'fake news.' But if he’s really the victim of so much inaccurate reporting, why is he so averse to having the facts recorded and transcribed?"

Her answer:

"It’s clear that White House stenographers do not serve his administration, but rather his adversary: the truth."

Dorey-Stein also recalled her time working for previous administrations and the respect stenographers were paid for their accurate documentation of what presidents would say.

George W. Bush used to call out, 'I love the stenos!'whenever he saw my boss, Peggy, or her colleagues.

A particularly stunning example of Trump's antipathy toward the truth came last week during his visit to the United Kingdom. In an interview with the British tabloid The Sun, the president trashed Prime Minister Theresa May's approach to implementing Brexit.

Trump claimed May ignored his advice on how to handle negotiations on Britain’s exit from the European Union, which was approved by voter referendum in 2016. The president said May has gone “the opposite way” of what he had suggested and that the results have been “very unfortunate.”

“She wrecked it" was the overall tenor of the interview.

But just hours later, Trump called reports about the interview "fake news" even though every word he spoke was recorded. Even more perplexing was when he said:

“Fortunately, we tend to record stories now...we record when we deal with reporters."

Dorey-Stein recalled that as early as "the Monday after Mr. Trump’s inauguration," Trump made it clear that he "doesn’t like microphones near his face.”

When Trump was interviewed by MSNBC's Lester Holt last year, the same interview in which the president admitted he fired FBI Director James Comey over "the Russia thing," Dorey-Stein was told by a colleague that she "would not be needed often because 'there would be video.'"

Another instance of Trump refusing the presence of stenographer was during an interview Trump held with former Fox anchor Bill O'Reilly.

"I watched with disbelief as the White House communications director Hope Hicks summoned Mr. O’Reilly to the Oval Office so he could speak with Mr. Trump privately," Dorey-Stein recounted.

She added that during her time working for Obama, stenographers were encouraged to record interactions between journalists and the president "just in case the reporter came out with an inaccurate quotation."

Perhaps Trump's desire to avoided being recorded is the reason he insisted on meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in private during their summit in Singapore last month––and why the president held a closed-door meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in which only translators were permitted to accompany both leaders.

In a follow-up interview with CNN, Dorey-Stein said she lost pride for her job while working for Trump.

"I quit because I couldn't be proud of where I worked anymore," she told Carol Costello. "I felt like President Trump was lying to the American people ... he wasn't even going the extra mile to have the stenographers in the room."

Indeed, Trump's habitual lying is well-documented. CNN reported in May that Trump has lied more than 3,000 times since taking office.

"That means that, on average, Trump says 6.5 things that aren't true a day. Every. Single. Day."

More from People

Kylian Mbappe; Celeste Amarilla
Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images; Nath Aguilar/picture alliance via Getty Images

French Soccer Star Kylian Mbappé Perfectly Rips Paraguayan Senator After Her Vile Racist Post Attacking Him

French soccer star Kylian Mbappé has struck out forcefully at Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla following her racist rant.

Amarilla's screed came following Paraguay's World Cup loss to France.

Keep ReadingShow less
Troy Nehls; Statue of Liberty
Chip Somodevilla/Staff/Getty Images; Achim Thomae/Getty Images

MAGA Rep. Slammed After Saying We Should Cover Up Statue Of Liberty To Deter Immigrants

During a xenophobic, racist rant about immigration on the Capitol Building steps, controversial Texas MAGA Republican Representative Troy Nehls called for a "bed sheet" to be placed over the Statue of Liberty for ten years.

The comment came just after Nehls disparaged the working class for not working as hard as he does after bragging about his plans for a lobster and ribeye feast for the 4th of July.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Mike Pence
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images; John Lamparski/Getty Images

Trump Gets Brutally Trolled With Old Mike Pence Posts After U.S. World Cup Defeat

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after Belgium knocked Team USA out of the World Cup after a 4–1 victory, with critics resurrecting jokes about former Vice President Mike Pence refusing to certify the 2020 election results.

The jokes are a response to Trump's role in the controversy surrounding Folarin Balogun's eligibility. Balogun had received a red card—the most severe penalty a player can receive on the field—against Bosnia and Herzegovina and was initially set to serve an automatic one-match suspension before FIFA overturned the ban.

Keep ReadingShow less
Laura Ingraham
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

Laura Ingraham Dragged After Claiming Masked White Nationalists Were Actually 'Antifa In Costume'

Fox News personality Laura Ingraham was criticized after suggesting the masked white nationalist members of Patriot Front who marched on Washington, D.C. on Saturday "were actually antifa in costume."

According to the group, roughly 400 members traveled to the nation's capital. Reuters photographers observed large numbers of participants riding Metro trains dressed in Patriot Front's signature uniform of khaki pants, blue shirts, white face coverings, baseball caps, and sunglasses.

Keep ReadingShow less
Patti LuPone at the "Another Simple Favor" Premiere held at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images

Patti LuPone Sounds Off After Turkey Denies Gay Cruise She's Performing On From Docking Due To 'Moral Values'

Patti LuPone is speaking out after Turkish authorities blocked a gay cruise from docking in the country, with officials reportedly citing a clash with local “moral values” as the reason.

The cruise, operated by LGBTQ+ tourism company Atlantis Events, departed Greece on July 5 and was scheduled to stop in the Turkish cities of Kuşadası and Istanbul before local authorities denied the ship entry. According to CNN and The Guardian, officials in Turkey's Aydin province informed organizers that the vessel would not be permitted to dock.

Keep ReadingShow less