“New York Times”
Accusation against Trump: Flushing documents down the toilet?
New allegations have been made against former US President Donald Trump. (Archive image) Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
“New York Times” journalist Maggie Haberman has been reporting on Trump for years – her book will be published soon. Details are already becoming known – and are causing distress for the ex-US President.
A journalist has made a new allegation against former US President Donald Trump in connection with his handling of files and documents.
In the White House, the toilet was regularly clogged with written paper, Maggie Haberman from the “New York Times” told CNN on Thursday. Haberman has been reporting on Trump for years – her book about the 75-year-old and his years in office is due to be published in October. You can only speculate what the paper was about, Haberman said. ‘It was in the pipes. And that was (…) his bathroom.” It was not an isolated case, Haberman said. Trump denied the allegation.
Trump: “categorically untrue”
That he flushed documents down the toilet was “categorically untrue,” the ex-president said in a statement. The reporter invented the story to advertise her “largely fictitious book”. Allegations had previously been raised that Trump routinely tore up documents during his time in the White House. He also took several boxes of files to his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida after his tenure. According to media reports, these included letters from North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un.
Trump confirmed that he had recently handed over several documents to the National Archives and Records Administration. “The papers were handed over without any problems, without conflict and on a very friendly basis,” said Trump. The whole thing was “routine” and “no big deal”. In the US, correspondence from the President must be archived and kept for posterity.