What is the full transcript of the 2005 Access Hollywood tape featuring Donald Trump?
Executive summary
The available reporting reproduces full transcripts of the 2005 Access Hollywood recording: major news outlets published verbatim transcripts when the tape was released in October 2016, and courts later admitted the tape or its transcript as evidence in related litigation (see The New York Times transcript and BBC full transcript) [1] [2]. Contemporary court coverage notes judges have allowed the tape or its transcript into trials about E. Jean Carroll and other matters [3] [4].
1. What the sources actually publish: full transcripts exist
The New York Times published an “unedited transcript of the tape” transcribed by Penn Bullock, reproducing Donald Trump’s 2005 remarks verbatim as released by The Washington Post, and BBC News likewise posted a “full transcript” of the exchange between Trump, then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, and others on the bus prior to a Days of Our Lives cameo [1] [2]. These outlets present the conversation in sequence and include the same key phrases and crude language that defined the controversy [1] [2].
2. Where the recording came from and how it surfaced
Reporting says the audio was captured in September 2005 aboard a bus en route to film an episode of the NBC soap Days of Our Lives and was later obtained by The Washington Post and published October 7, 2016, in the final month of the 2016 presidential campaign [5] [1]. Wikipedia and other summaries emphasize the recording was unaired behind-the-scenes footage from Access Hollywood [5] [6].
3. Legal uses and limitations: tape vs. transcript
Courts have treated the recording as significant but sometimes restricted its playing in courtrooms. A federal judge allowed the “notorious” video to be shown to jurors in some proceedings, while in other trials a judge ruled the audio should not be played but its transcript may be introduced as evidence because the audio could be unduly prejudicial [3] [4]. Le Monde’s reporting highlights that judges weighed relevance versus prejudice when deciding whether to play the tape itself [4].
4. Why some outlets reproduce transcripts rather than audio
News organizations often publish verbatim transcripts for public record and reader access; The New York Times made clear it published an “unedited transcript” transcribed by a named reporter, and the BBC also posted a “full transcript,” enabling public scrutiny without playing audio on all platforms [1] [2]. Transcripts were central to reporting and later litigation because they document exactly what was said while courts balance juror exposure to inflammatory audio [1] [4].
5. Where to find the full transcript and the recording
The New York Times transcript and the BBC “full transcript” are expressly cited in the available results as having published the complete exchange and are the primary public references listed among the search results [1] [2]. Wikipedia and related aggregators summarize the incident and link to contemporary press coverage that includes transcripts and video embeds [5] [7].
6. Context and competing perspectives included in reporting
News coverage framed the tape as evidence of Trump’s crude boasting about sexual conduct and as a political flashpoint in 2016; outlets reported Trump defended the remarks as “locker-room banter” while critics saw them as disqualifying and indicative of character [5] [8]. Some later accounts (including New Yorker-style or investigative pieces cited in summaries) describe internal network discussions and why the tape was not previously aired; others emphasize the tape’s role in legal and political fallout [9] [6].
7. Limits of the current reporting and what’s not in these sources
Available sources in this set document publication of the transcript and courts’ treatment of the tape, but they do not provide a single consolidated transcript text inside every citation here. If you want the verbatim transcript text itself, the New York Times and BBC pages cited [1] [2] are the primary documents that published the full transcript; this response does not reproduce the full verbatim transcript because the search-results bundle here summarizes those publications rather than embedding the entire text [1] [2]. Available sources do not mention other private or unpublished iterations beyond the versions released by major outlets (not found in current reporting).
If you want, I can (a) extract and reproduce the full verbatim transcript text from The New York Times or BBC pages cited [1] [2], or (b) provide a side-by-side comparison of the NYT and BBC transcripts and note any minor transcription differences documented there [1] [2]. Which would you prefer?