TRUST ISSUES

Trump Has Considered Ordering Staffers to Take Polygraph Tests: Report

The president frequently mentions polygraphing his own staffers after internal White House information leaks to the press.

White House staffers have reportedly volunteered to take polygraph tests in order to prove their loyalty to President Trump in light of the firehose of leaks coming out of the administration. Staffers likely made the drastic offer because the president frequently mentions polygraphing his own staffers when the media reports on internal White House information, according to numerous former aides and officials. “He wanted to polygraph every employee in the building to unearth who it was who spoke to the press,” a former official told Politico. That former official also noted that Trump tends to be particularly angered when he is certain that specific stories are true.

The dam of secrecy within the Trump administration burst almost instantaneously, and within the first months of his presidency, Trump reportedly became fixated on polygraphing staffers. The president was especially irate after reports on the intricacies of former FBI Director James Comey’s firing, according to a former official. Since then, internal White House call transcripts, draft executive orders, and accounts of Oval Office infighting are routinely leaked to the press. Top aides have so far been successful at talking Trump out of issuing the lie detector tests, but multiple former officials said he continues to float the idea.