Trump Fabricates Story About Releasing 'The Tape' of Ukraine Phone Call

On Saturday, former President Donald Trump shared a completely fictional account regarding the release of a tape of his 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This phone call was a significant factor in Trump’s first impeachment. Trump claimed that he outsmarted Democratic opponents by releasing “the tape” of the call at a campaign rally in Ohio. He alleged that he allowed Democrats to make increasingly wild claims about the call before releasing the tape. According to Trump, Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi was outraged after hearing the tape, as she realized that her allies had provided false descriptions of the call.

Trump’s Fabrication

However, Trump’s story is entirely fabricated. No tape of the call with Zelensky was ever released. Pelosi could not have been angry after hearing a tape of the call because she never heard such a tape. Even nearly five years after the call, there is no known US recording of the conversation. What the White House actually released in September 2019 was a rough written transcript of the call, which aligned with a government whistleblower’s central allegations about what Trump had said. A spokesperson for Pelosi, Aaron Bennett, referred to Trump’s story as “fact-free nonsense.”

No Recording of the Call

Presidential phone calls with foreign leaders are not commonly recorded by the American side. Instead, they are roughly memorialized in written form by a combination of software and US officials who listen in. Retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was one of the officials listening to Trump’s call with Zelensky, confirmed that there is “no recording” of the call. He bluntly stated, “He’s lying.”

Trump’s Attempt to Rewrite Reality

Since late 2019, Trump has been attempting to rewrite the narrative about the phone call with Zelensky. His false claims at the Saturday rally echoed the ones he made during his presidency. Trump has persistently tried to convince the public that he outmaneuvered his opponents by releasing the rough transcript of the call after they had made misleading statements. In reality, Trump’s claims lack any factual basis.

Multiple False Claims at Ohio Rally

During the Saturday rally in Ohio, Trump made several other false claims. He propagated the “tape” version of the story while criticizing Schiff, who is currently running for a US Senate seat in California. This pattern of misinformation continues to persist despite its lack of grounding in reality.