The White House severely restricted distribution of memos detailing US President Donald Trump's calls with foreign leaders, including Russia's Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman, after embarrassing leaks of his conversations early in his tenure, a former White House official said.
The former White House official acknowledged that other calls were concealed, while casting the decision as part of an effort to minimise leaks, not an attempt to hide improper discussions. In previous administrations, rough transcripts of presidential phone calls were kept private, but not housed on the highly classified computer system unless sensitive national security information was discussed. Summaries of the calls were distributed to relevant officials in the White House and other agencies. The Trump Administration's process curtailed the number of people who had access.
