Donald Trump Tape Reveals He Uttered 10 Words That Might Have Doomed Him

Donald Trump was reportedly recorded on tape saying that he could have declassified national security documents during his presidency but failed to do so—a sentence which experts say might be "damning evidence."

On Friday, one day after Trump was indicted on seven charges related to his handling of classified documents, CNN reported that federal prosecutors are in possession of a tape in which the former president can be heard saying that he kept "secret" military information that he no longer had the power to declassify.

"As president, I could have declassified, but now I can't," a transcript of the tape said. In the recording, made during a private meeting in 2021, Trump admits to being in possession of a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack in Iran, according to CNN.

Trump's alleged statement during the 2021 meeting would be significant if true because it could prove that the former president was aware that the records he kept at Mar-a-Lago were classified, going against what he has repeatedly said in the past months—that all documents had been declassified.

Former President Donald Trump greets supporters at a Team Trump volunteer leadership training event held at the Grimes Community Complex in Grimes, Iowa, on June 1, 2023. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Trump repeatedly denied keeping national security documents after leaving office, but last summer a raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida found that several classified documents were held at the residence.

On Thursday, federal prosecutors charged Trump over his retention of national security documents upon leaving the White House in January 2021, as well as the alleged obstruction of the government's efforts to retrieve them. This is the first time that a former United States president has faced federal charges. Trump denies all counts.

Ryan Goodman, former special counsel at the Department of Defense, commented on the revelation contained in the tape saying: "This looks like highly damning evidence for the prosecution."

This looks like highly damning evidence for the prosecution.

“Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this.”@PaulaReidCNN @jeremyherb @CNN obtained the transcript. https://t.co/DIsPDkJaO1 — Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) June 9, 2023

While details of the indictment haven't been made public yet, two sources familiar with the situation who were not authorized to talk about it publicly told the Associated Press that Trump was indicted on seven counts related to his possession of classified material. It's unknown whether any of the seven counts relate to the meeting in 2021 recorded on tape.

Many experts believe that federal prosecutors could easily prove that Trump mishandled classified documents after he left office, especially if his claim that he had previously declassified documents falls through.

"It's a cakewalk for prosecutors to prove Trump illegally retained documents, from a purely legal perspective and setting aside the politics and what a Florida jury's bias might be," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Newsweek.

"Trump's defense has been that he somehow declassified these documents, but if that defense falls apart then the same defense argument forces him to essentially admit he retained the documents," he said.

"And the media reports of a tape recording in which Trump talked about having a classified document about Iran, that could also be used to prove that he personally knew what he had and how sensitive it was."

Update 06/09/23, 11:22 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Neama Rahmani and additional information.