White House stenographers are struggling to keep up with Trump
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The White House stenographers have a problem.Donald Trumpis talking so much, the people responsible for transcribing his public remarks are struggling to keep up with all the words.There were more than 22,000 onInauguration Day, then another 17,000 when Trump visiteddisaster sitesin North Carolina and California. Its enough to strain the ears and fingers of even the most dedicated stenographer, especially after four years ofJoe Bidensrelative quiet.Now there are discussions about hiring additional staff to keep up with the workload, according to people with knowledge of the conversations who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters.The flood of words is one of the most visible or audible shifts from Biden to Trump, who craves the spotlight and understands better than most politicians that attention is a form of power. Hes been speaking nearly nonstop since starting his second term, drowning out dissenting voices and leaving his opponents struggling to be heard.Take Wednesday, for example. During a signing ceremony for legislation toaccelerate deportations, Trump, a Republican, talked up his accomplishments, claimed Hamas wasusing U.S.-funded condoms to make bombsin Gaza, defended his administrations efforts tofreeze federal spendingandreduce the government workforce, veered through descriptions of migrant violence and made the surprise announcement that Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, would be usedas a detention centerfor people who are in the U.S. illegally.Trumps commentary remains laden with falsehoods, including baseless allegations aboutvoter fraudand assertions that California water policies worsenedthe recent wildfires.Sometimes he speaks off the cuff about consequential geopolitical matters, such as a recent suggestion that Palestinians should bedisplaced from Gazawhile the enclave is rebuilt. It can be hard to know when to take him seriously, like when he muses about serving a third term, which the U.S. Constitution does not allow.But now that Trump is back in the presidency, its hard to ignore him.Hes dictating the news on his terms, said Michael LaRosa, who worked as a television producer before serving as a spokesperson for former first lady Jill Biden. Hes become Americas assignment editor.Most presidents try to start their terms with a bang, seizing the moment when their influence could be at its peak. However, Trump is in a different league.Biden, a Democrat, spent 2 hours and 36 minutes talking on camera and used 24,259 words in his first week in office four years ago, according to numbers generated by Factba.se.Trumps comparable stats: nearly 7 hours and 44 minutes and 81,235 words last week. Thats longer than watching the original Star Wars trilogy back-to-back-to-back, and more words than Macbeth, Hamlet and Richard III combined.Its also much more than when Trump took office for his first term eight years ago. Back then, he was only on camera talking for 3 hours and 41 minutes and spoke 33,571 words.Trump has spent decades practicing the best ways to get people to pay attention to him. As a New York businessman, he fed stories to gossip columnists, added gold plating to buildings and slapped his name on every product that he sold. His efforts reached an apex with The Apprentice, the reality television show that beamed him into American living rooms.One of the things that has given him the advantage is that he thinks like an executive producer, said Kevin Madden, a Republican communications strategist. Hes constantly programming the next hour and trying to keep his audience engaged.A sign of what was to come arrived shortly after Trump was sworn in. He delivered an inaugural address and then promptly gave more remarks to supporters that were even longer than his speech. And then he spoke at a downtown arena, where people had gathered for a rally, and later he parried questions from reporters for nearly an hour in the Oval Office while signing executive orders.At one point, he turned to Fox News Channels Peter Doocy.Does Biden ever do news conferences like this? Trump said. How many news conferences, Peter, has he done like this?Like this? Doocy responded.None, Trump said, answering his own question.On Friday, Trump presented a tour de force of talking, demonstrating that hes far more willing to put himself in unscripted situations than Biden was.He spoke with reporters while leaving the White House in the morning. He talked to them again after landing in North Carolina, then again at a briefing on the recovery from Hurricane Helene, and then again while meeting with victims of the storm.Trump flew that afternoon to Los Angeles, where he conversed with local officials about the recent wildfires. Before boarding Air Force One to leave the city in the evening, he answered more questions from reporters on the tarmac.As his travels continued over the weekend, Trump spoke to reporters twice at the back of Air Force One as often as Biden did for his entire term.Transparency is back! wrote longtime aide Margo Martin on social media.Thats not the word that Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, would use.Being accessible and being transparent are two different things, she said.Sometimes more talking doesnt produce more clarity. One afternoon, Trump told reporters that there were no surprises when Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski decided to oppose Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon. The next morning, Trump said he was very surprised by their votes.Jamieson worries that the frenzied pace will exhaust people.More people will simply check out, she said. And thats a problem. An informed citizenry is an engaged citizenry.Kate Berner, who worked on Bidens communications staff, said Trumps constant talking helps keep his adversaries off balance.By doing so much and saying so much, it is hard for people who oppose him to organize, she said. And it is hard for any one thing to take hold.But theres also a risk for Trump, Berner said. If hes not careful, she said, he could once again start wearing out his welcome with the American people.Chris Megerian, Associated PressAssociated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report.
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