The White House has taken extraordinary steps over the past two years to block details of President Trump’s phone calls with foreign leaders from becoming public, following embarrassing disclosures early in his administration that enraged the president and created a sense of paranoia among his top aides.

The number of aides allowed to listen on secure “drop” lines was slashed. The list of government officials who could review a memo of the call’s contents was culled. Fewer copies of transcripts went to agencies, and they were stamped with “EYES ONLY DO NOT COPY.” And some officials who deliver call memos had to sign for the records to create a custody record if they were to leak, according to people familiar with the moves who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe them.

At one point in 2018, Defense Department officials were asked to send back transcripts of calls to the White House after Trump aides grew worried they could be disclosed, according to former senior administration officials…

Four former U.S. officials — including aides in previous administrations and the Trump administration — said they were not aware of any calls that did not contain highly classified information being housed in this type of storage system. One former Trump administration official said such calls were sometimes kept on the “high side,” only available to aides with high clearances and separate computers, but not the secure system the whistleblower alleges was used. “Never heard of anything like that,” said this official, who was privy to some of Trump’s calls with foreign leaders.