President insisted staff keep quiet

As a real estate executive and reality-TV star, Donald Trump tightly controlled his image by insisting that everyone around him sign nondisclosure agreements threatening steep monetary penalties if they revealed anything about him or his company.

A few months into his presidency, Trump — infuriated by leaks about everything from staff rivalries to his bathrobe-wearing, TV-viewing habits — ordered Reince Priebus, then his chief of staff, to do the same thing in the West Wing.

To calm Trump, Don McGahn, the White House counsel, drew up a broad document barring White House officials from publicly disclosing what they heard and saw at work. But he privately told senior aides that it was mainly meant to placate an agitated president. McGahn made it clear the agreement could not ultimately be enforced, according to several people who signed.

The nondisclosure agreement, presented by Priebus to the senior staff last April, did not specify any penalties for breaking it. But it was an early indication that Trump, who spent decades using pressure tactics and secrecy in his private life, wanted to do the same thing at the White House.

And if the potential for punishment seemed remote to his top aides, the message from the president was clear: Keep quiet.

Of course, judging from the constant leaks out of the White House, the agreements haven’t worked.

The two- to three-page document was described by several current and former White House officials who signed it but insisted on anonymity. A spokesman would not say whether senior officials were required to sign it.

But former White House lawyers and governmentethics experts said the agreement raises serious legal questions and reflects Trump’s refusal to submit to the norms of public disclosure or free speech.