Trump Promised Transparency - His Administration Keeps Finding New Ways to Hide Records

Aug 26, 2026

Donald Trump claimed in 2019 that he was “the most transparent president in history,” yet coverage during his second term highlights repeated efforts to restrict public access to records. The administration staged releases on past cases, but some disclosures proved thin, delayed, or involved heavy redactions and no meaningful follow-up. It also targeted everyday transparency mechanisms, such as FOIA, by seeking exemptions and challenging statutory obligations. The article situates these actions within a broader history of modern presidents trying to shield or release government documents.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Trump’s transparency claims and record access

High-profile archive releases and controversies

FOIA restrictions and litigation

A quick history of records and executive secrecy

Origins of FOIA and post-Watergate reforms

Nixon’s leak paranoia and FOIA amendments

The Presidential Records Act and its enforcement

Trump Promised Transparency. His Administration Keeps Finding New Ways to Hide Records. [reason.com](reason.com/2026/08/15/trump-promised-transparency-his-administration-keeps-finding-new-ways-to-hide-records)[/2026/08/15/trump-promised-transparency-his-administration-keeps-finding-new-ways-to-hide-records](reason.com/2026/08/15/trump-promised-transparency-his-administration-keeps-finding-new-ways-to-hide-records)[ ](reason.com/2026/08/15/trump-promised-transparency-his-administration-keeps-finding-new-ways-to-hide-records)Matthew Petti August 15, 2026 President Donald Trump claimed in 2019 that he was "the most transparent president in history." Throughout his second term, Trump's spokespeople have used that phrase over andover again. The administration has made a big show of opening the archives on old mysteries: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the existence of UFOs , and the case of well-connected sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. While the JFK files included some genuinely shocking revelations , the UFO files were thin on substance. And the Epstein files turned into an infamous boondoggle. The administration handed a group of influencers binders labeled "Phase 1," which turned out to hold heavily redacted copies of already-public documents , then never followed up. After it was leaked to the press that the actual FBI file on Epstein included a sexually suggestive letter from Trump himself, Congress dragged the files out of an embarrassed and defensive administration. But the Trump administration has also fouled up the everyday mechanisms for Americans to see what their leaders are up to and how their tax dollars are being spent. Officials have tried to hide documents from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or outright exempt government activities from FOIA. In fiscal year 2025, the federal government granted a little under 50 percent of FOIA requests, a record low since 2010, according to data compiled by The New York Times. The Department of Justice fought in court to overturn the Presidential Records Act, which requires the White House to preserve its files for posterity. In between his two terms, Trump infamously hid papers in his bathroom. Trump had ironically ridden to power on the back of an earlier outrage about transparency. Much of the 2016 election focused on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's emails. Back when she was secretary of state, Clinton had secretly moved her emails to a private, nongovernment server, both exposing them to hackers and concealing them from public FOIArequests. Trump said on the campaign trail that Clinton was trying to "cover up her crimes." In the decade since then, the Trump administration has done a lot more to cover up its own activities. Beyond the political irony, the Trump administration's attack on transparency highlights how the struggle to keep politicians honest works. American journalists, lawyers, and crusading gadflies have won the right to inspect a wide variety of government records. The FOIA regime is a model for the rest of the free world—and the unsung source of a lot of politically relevant scoops, including at Reason. The political operators undermining transparency know what they're doing. A Quick History of Modern Presidents Trying To Shield, or Release, Records "One of the contradictory things about the United States is that an incredible amount of the government is dedicated to doing things in secret," geographer Trevor Paglen writes in Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World. "At the same time, it's one of the world's most open governments." That openness was a hard-won right. The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 had left federal officials with wide discretion in what information to release to the public, and they became increasingly tightfisted with Cold War paranoia. The original FOIA was passed in 1966 as a "product of years of slow campaigning by a network of journalists, scientist

FAQs

What transparency claim did Trump make in 2019, and how does the article evaluate it?

Trump claimed he was “the most transparent president in history.” The article contrasts that claim with examples showing restricted access, heavy redactions, and administrative efforts that hinder public viewing of records.

How did the administration’s handling of major archive releases (such as UFO, JFK, and Epstein) differ in outcomes?

The article notes that JFK-related files included shocking revelations, while UFO files were described as lacking substance. Epstein-related materials devolved into a widely criticized process that delayed and then revealed issues after press attention.

What does the article say about the administration’s actions affecting FOIA and presidential records?

Officials attempted to hide documents from FOIA or exempt certain activities, and the government granted fewer FOIA requests than prior years. The Department of Justice also fought in court to overturn the Presidential Records Act’s preservation requirements.

Aug 26, 2026

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