The White House stenographers have a problem. President Trump is talking so much, the people responsible for transcribing his public remarks are struggling to keep up with all the words, per the AP. There were more than 22,000 on Inauguration Day, then another 17,000 when Trump visited disaster sites in North Carolina and California. It's enough to strain the ears and fingers of even the most dedicated stenographer, especially after four years of former President Biden's relative quiet. Now there are discussions about hiring additional staff to keep up with the workload, according to people with knowledge of the conversations.
The flood of words is one of the most visible—or audible—shifts from Biden to Trump.
- Biden spent 2 hours and 36 minutes talking on camera and used 24,259 words in his first week in office four years ago, according to numbers generated by Factba.se.
- Trump's comparable stats: nearly 7 hours and 44 minutes and 81,235 words last week. That's longer than watching the original Star Wars trilogy back-to-back-to-back, and more words than Macbeth, Hamlet, and Richard III combined.
- It's also much more than when Trump took office for his first term eight years ago. Back then, he was only on camera talking for 3 hours and 41 minutes and spoke 33,571 words.
Sometimes more talking doesn't produce more clarity. One afternoon, Trump told reporters that there were "no surprises" when Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski decided to oppose Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon. The next morning, Trump said he was "very surprised" by their votes. Kate Berner, who worked on Biden's communications staff, said Trump's constant talking helps keep his adversaries off balance. "By doing so much and saying so much, it is hard for people who oppose him to organize," she said. "And it is hard for any one thing to take hold." But there's also a risk for Trump, Berner said. If he's not careful, she said, he could start "wearing out his welcome with the American people."
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