Mr. Trump went on a tear about General Milley.

“Isn’t it amazing, I have a big pile of papers,” Mr. Trump mentioned at one level. Papers could possibly be heard rustling, after which Mr. Trump started showing to level to a particular doc, saying, “Look, this was him.” At one other level he mentioned, “This was the Defense Department and him.”

He described one thing in entrance of him as “like, highly confidential,” and maintained it was actually General Milley who wished to attack Iran (in fact, General Milley cautioned in opposition to such a transfer).

At one level Mr. Trump was interrupted, and a lady within the room could possibly be heard on the recording referencing Hillary Clinton, the previous secretary of state whose electronic mail server Mr. Trump used as an assault line throughout the 2016 presidential marketing campaign. Mr. Trump mentioned Mrs. Clinton would ship materials “to Anthony Weiner, that pervert,” referring to the previous congressman who was married to an aide to Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. Trump and his allies have repeatedly asserted that, whereas nonetheless in workplace, he had declassified all the fabric he took with him from the White House (although the fees may not rely on whether anything was classified). But his assertion seemed to be undercut by the recording.

“As president, I could have declassified them, now I can’t,” Mr. Trump was recorded saying, in response to the particular person acquainted with its contents. He then reiterated one thing was “classified” as he and one of many girls within the room talked over one another, in response to the particular person acquainted with its contents.

“Isn’t that interesting? It’s so cool,” Mr. Trump mentioned, including, “You probably almost didn’t believe me, but now you believe me.”