President Donald Trump on Friday released a transcript of his first call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an effort to show that he did nothing wrong, but it showed that his White House made up the fact that they discussed “corruption.”
The partial transcript shows Trump congratulating Zelensky on his election win in April.
"When you're settled in and ready, I'd like to invite you to the White House. We'll have a lot of things to talk about, but we're with you all the way," Trump said on the call.
"I think you will do a great job. I have many friends in Ukraine who know you and like you," Trump said. "I have many friends from Ukraine and they think -- frankly -- expected you to win. And it' s really an amazing thing that you've done."
"When I owned Miss Universe, they always had great people. Ukraine was always very well represented," Trump said.
WH claimed call was about corruption:
Trump has claimed that his demand to Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden on the subsequent July 25 call was about corruption. The White House similarly released a readout after the April call claiming the leaders discussed “corruption.”
The White House readout claimed that Trump “underscored the unwavering support of the United States for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity—within its internationally recognized borders—and expressed his commitment to work together with President-elect Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people to implement reforms that strengthen democracy, increase prosperity, and root out corruption.”
But there was no mention of corruption in the transcript released by the White House.
Trump has “checkered record” on call summaries:
“The Trump White House has a checkered record of releasing summaries of his calls with foreign leaders, a practice viewed as standard in prior administrations,” The Daily Beast noted. “Many of those readouts have contained scant details of the conversations, even as foreign leaders put out far more detailed summaries, a practice that experts say allows foreign governments to put their own spin on highly consequential interactions with the president.”
