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What exactly did Donald Trump say on the 2005 Access Hollywood tape?
Executive summary
The Access Hollywood recording is a 2005 off‑camera conversation in which Donald Trump boasted about kissing and touching women without waiting for consent and used the phrase widely reported as “grab them by the pussy,” lines that were transcribed and published by multiple outlets and later admitted as authentic by NBC hosts [1] [2] [3]. Courts have treated the tape and its transcript as relevant evidence in civil and criminal proceedings — judges have allowed transcripts into trials and cited the tape when assessing credibility and intent [4] [5] [6].
1. What the tape actually records — plain language and key lines
The published transcripts and video clips show Trump describing moving on a married woman, saying “I moved on her… I did try and f--- her,” boasting “I just kiss. I don’t even wait,” and asserting that “when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy” — phrases widely circulated in media transcripts at the time the Washington Post released the clip in October 2016 [1] [3] [2].
2. How the recording surfaced and who published the transcript
The Washington Post obtained and published the video in October 2016; media outlets subsequently posted verbatim transcripts and excerpts attributed to reporters and organizations including The New York Times and Voice of America that reproduced the exchange in full or near‑verbatim [1] [7] [3].
3. Legal significance: courts, trials and evidentiary rulings
Courts have repeatedly found the tape relevant to litigation. Judges have allowed transcripts or the tape’s contents into evidence in civil suits — for example, a judge permitted E. Jean Carroll to use the statements in her suit and another judge allowed the transcript (if not necessarily the audio) to be shown to jurors in other proceedings, citing its relevance to intent, credibility and pattern of conduct [6] [4] [5].
4. How Trump and allies responded at the time and later
Following publication in 2016, Trump issued an apology for the remarks (reporting and archived apology referenced in media coverage) and his defenders characterized the exchange as “locker room banter” or sought to minimize its significance; later legal briefs and filings sought to exclude the tape from trials on prejudice grounds, with judges weighing those arguments [2] [4]. Available sources do not provide the full text of Trump’s 2016 apology here; they do note the apology occurred [8].
5. Media and cultural impact beyond the courtroom
The recording became a central issue in the 2016 campaign, prompted widespread commentary about his attitudes toward women, and has persisted in public discourse — resurfacing in art, social media trends that reintroduce the tape to younger voters, and as a recurring reference point in discussions of accusations against Trump [9] [10] [2].
6. Disputes, denials and continuing debates about context
Some supporters and commentators argue the language was exaggerated, taken out of context, or “banter,” while critics point to the tape as direct evidence of bragging about nonconsensual sexual behavior; judges have had to balance those competing perspectives when deciding whether to admit the material into evidence because of concerns that the audio itself might be prejudicial [4] [2]. Available sources do not claim the tape contains every word exactly as every outlet reported — they reproduce transcripts and report verbatim lines, but debates over nuance and editing recur [1] [3].
7. What reporting does not (in these sources) cover
These provided sources document the key quoted lines, publication, and legal uses, but available sources do not include the full original unedited audio file here, nor do they supply every single utterance in context beyond the widely circulated transcript excerpts [1] [3]. They also do not here reproduce Trump’s full public defenses across all subsequent years; separate reporting would be needed to map every later statement and legal argument.
Conclusion — what a reader should take away
The reported transcript and clips show Trump using explicit, boastful language about kissing and groping women without waiting for consent, language corroborated by multiple media transcripts and relied upon by judges as relevant evidence in litigation [1] [3] [4]. There remains public and legal dispute over how to weigh that material — whether as evidence of habit, intent or prejudicial rhetoric — and courts have repeatedly wrestled with those competing interpretations when deciding admissibility [4] [6].