Donald Trump's Leaked Audio Tape Details 'Confidential' Content From Classified Documents

A two-minute recording has emerged from an interview with former President Donald Trump apparently discussing "highly confidential" contents from classified documents. The documents that Trump boasted about in this July 2021 interview mentioned a potential military strike against Iran. 

On Monday, June 26, 2023, CNN obtained the leaked audio tape of the interview. In the 2021 meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump could be heard "discussing holding secret documents he did not declassify," reported CNN. The audio recording was first aired on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. 

The audio interview had the 77-year-old president shuffling through the confidential papers and casually sharing the supposed plan of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General, Mark Milley on Iran. "Well, with Milley – let me see that. I will show you an example," Trump could be heard saying in the recording, as per New York Post. Trump then divulged that Mark Milley was planning on "launching an attack against the US adversary." He also admitted the information is "highly confidential and secret."

He showed off the classified documents. "These are the papers," Trump said in the audio recording and then mentioned, "[Milley] said that I wanted to attack Iran – isn't it amazing? I have a big pile of papers. This thing just came up, look. This was him. They presented me this." Trump continued discussing the sensitive information, "This is off the record."

The former president emphasized in the recording, "This was him. This was the Defense Department and him; we looked at some- this was him. This wasn't done by me. This was him … all sorts of stuff … pages long."

The taped interview happened at Trump's Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. The conversation was regarding an autobiography being written by some individuals on Mark Meadows, Trump's last White House chief of staff. This transcript had been used in special counsel Jack Smith's indictment against Trump.

This two-minute recording was presented as crucial evidence in the court to prove Trump retained "confidential" information even after leaving the White House. Smith also noted that "none" of those present during the conversation - neither the writer, nor the publisher, nor his two staff members - "possessed a security clearance." 

Trump can be heard saying in the tape, "Isn't that amazing? This totally wins my case, You know? Except it is [like] highly confidential, secret information." Apart from the sensitive information, the recording also had Trump and his aides joking about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

The former president joked about Clinton's e-mails and the "secret" information with his communications aide Margo Martin. Trump's staffer said, "Hillary would print that out all the time- you know. Her private e-mails." Trump quipped, "No, she'd send it to Anthony Weiner." This was a reference to the former Democratic congressman whose laptop was found by the FBI to have Clinton's emails on it. 

After Trump was done with the jokes, he switched to discussing the alleged Iran attack plan. "See, as a president, I could have declassified it. Now I can't [you know]- but this is still a secret." His staffer responded, "Now we have a problem." Trump said, "Isn't that interesting?" He added, "It's so cool," before asking someone to "bring some Cokes in, please," and the audio ended. 

This recording conflicts with what Trump revealed recently in an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier that he did not have any documents with him and the papers he had were newspapers and magazine articles.