Historian explains why it’s 'important' the Trump administration is 'leaking like a sieve'

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media on board Air Force One on the way to Miami, Florida, U.S., April 12, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

The Trump administration is “leaking like a sieve,” says respected historian Heather Cox Richardson. “That’s important. It’s always, always, always worth watching leaks.”

“Generally,” she explained, “if an administration doesn’t leak, that means people feel like they’re getting heard and they’re genuinely on board with what’s going on.” The Biden administration, for example, “almost never leaked.”

That is a stark contrast to the Trump administration, which has been characterized by leaks since the beginning.

According to Richardson, the most interesting leaks are coming out of the Defense Department, citing the recent example of American casualty numbers in the war with Iran. Initially, Trump officials claimed that there were only around a dozen injured. But as it turned out, the actual number is much higher—more like 140, many with serious injuries like brain trauma, burns, and shrapnel wounds—and we wouldn’t know this were it not for leaked information.

“That’s a big deal,” said Richardson. “That was a military person going to a reporter and saying, ‘they’re lying to you.’ That’s a sign that there is real disquiet about what’s happening.”

And these leaks continue to spout regardless of the administration’s efforts to plug them. For example, in October of last year, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth kicked all non “yes men” reporters out of the Pentagon press pool. Even so, Richardson says there is still plenty of good reporting coming out of the Pentagon based on leaks, because reporters “clearly still have contacts that are talking to them.”

Just a few days ago, a leaked classified report from the National Intelligence Council cast doubt on the effectiveness of American efforts against Iran. Internal experts have warned Trump about various aspects of the mission, “but he wasn’t listening to them or they didn’t dare talk to him about it.”

“That’s a CYA move — a cover your ass move,” Richardson explained. It shows “that they’re really worried about the direction this war is going, and they want it started out there that ‘it wasn’t me!’.”

This suggests there is much going on behind the scenes that the administration doesn’t want reporters — and therefore the public — to know.

“If they’re saying ‘we’re giving him advice and he’s not listening’,” said Richardson, “that says that the people inside — at least some of them — are concerned about what’s happening.”

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