White House Plans to Hire More Stenographers Because Trump Talks Too Much

White House stenographers have a problem. Donald Trump talks so much that the people responsible for transcribing his public speeches are having a hard time keeping up, reports Associated Press.

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He used more than 22 words on Inauguration Day, and then another 000 while visiting disaster sites in North Carolina and California. It’s enough to tire the ears and fingers of even the most seasoned stenographers, especially after four years of relative silence from Joe Biden.

Now, hiring additional staff to cope with the workload is being considered, according to people familiar with the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

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The torrent of words is one of the most obvious differences between Biden and Trump, who craves attention and understands better than most politicians that attention is a form of power. He has spoken almost nonstop since the first days of his second term, drowning out the voices of his opponents and forcing them to fight to be heard.

During the signing of the deportation-accelerating bill, Trump touted his accomplishments by claiming that Hamas was using condoms purchased with U.S. money to build bombs in Gaza. He defended his administration’s efforts to freeze federal spending and cut government jobs, then veered into migrant-related violence. Finally, Trump made the surprise announcement that his administration would use Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a detention center for illegal immigrants.

Trump’s speeches remain filled with falsehoods, including baseless allegations of election fraud and claims that California’s water policies exacerbated recent wildfires. He sometimes improvises on topics that could have serious geopolitical implications. For example, Trump recently proposed moving Palestinians from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt until the enclave is rebuilt.

It can be difficult at times to know when to take him seriously, especially when he's contemplating a third term, which the U.S. Constitution does not allow.

But now that Trump is back in office, he is impossible to ignore.

“He dictates the news on his terms,” said Michael LaRosa, who worked as a television producer and then as press secretary for former first lady Jill Biden. “He’s become America’s editor-in-chief.”

Most presidents try to get their term off to a bang, with a moment when their influence might be at its peak. But Trump is on another level.

Democrat Biden spent 2 hours, 36 minutes on camera and used 24 words in his first week as president four years ago.

Trump's comparable numbers: nearly 7 hours, 44 minutes and 81 words last week. That's longer than the entire original Star Wars trilogy, and more words than Macbeth, Hamlet, and Richard III combined.

That's certainly a big improvement over his first stint eight years ago, when he spent just 3 hours, 41 minutes speaking on camera and uttering 33 words in his first week.

Trump has spent decades perfecting his attention-getting techniques. As a New York businessman, he supplied gossipmongers with stories, gilded buildings and put his name on every product he sold. His efforts culminated in the reality show The Apprentice, which brought his image into American homes.

"One of his strengths is that he thinks like an executive producer," said Kevin Madden, a Republican communications strategist. "He's constantly programming the next hour and trying to keep the audience engaged."

After Trump took the oath of office, he delivered an inaugural address, then immediately gave an even longer address to his supporters. He then spoke at a downtown arena where rallygoers had gathered, and later answered reporters’ questions for nearly an hour in the Oval Office after signing orders.

At one point, Trump turned to Fox News reporter Peter Doocy:

"Does Biden even hold press conferences like this? Peter, how many has he held?"

“Like these?” Dusi asked again.

“None,” Trump answered his own question.

On January 24, the 47th president put on a master class in public speaking, showing that he is far more prepared to improvise than Biden.

He spoke to reporters this morning before leaving the White House, then spoke to them again after landing in North Carolina, then at a briefing on Hurricane Helen's recovery and again while meeting with storm victims.

Trump flew to Los Angeles in the afternoon, where he spoke with local officials about the recent wildfires. He answered questions from reporters on the runway again before leaving the city.

During the weekend trip, he spoke with them twice in the back of Air Force One, as many times as Biden has in his entire term.

"Transparency is back!" longtime Trump aide Margo Martin wrote on social media.

That's not a word 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 stressed.

Sometimes more words don’t make for more clarity. Trump once told reporters there were “no surprises” when Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski opposed Pete Hegseth’s nomination to head the Pentagon. The next morning, he said he was “very surprised” by the vote.

Jamieson worries that Trump's frantic pace will tire people out.

"More and more people are just switching off," she said. "And that's a problem. An informed society is an engaged society."

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Kate Berner, who was in charge of communications on Biden's team, believes that Trump's constant speeches make it difficult for his opponents to coordinate.

"By saying so much and doing so much, he makes it difficult for those who oppose him to organize," she noted. "It is unlikely that anything he says will stick in the public consciousness for long."

But there are risks for Trump himself, Berner said. If he’s not careful, she said, he could once again “weary Americans out with his presence.”

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