browse Browse

pac.dog pac.dog / Clips

odwyerpr.com: https://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/24795/2026-05-22/honesty-is-not-same-as-transparency.html

Speaker
—
Subject
J000299
Source
GDELT news · original
Published
Friday, May 22, 2026

Sign in to add to a watchlist →

Earlier this spring, Trump publicly disclosed highly personal medical information about Rep. Neal Dunn of Florida. He said Dunn had been told he would be “dead by June.” Speaker Mike Johnson quickly cut in: “OK, that wasn’t public.” Reports confirmed Trump had revealed information that had not been public before.

Full text

3,000 chars

PR News | Honesty Is Not the Same as Transparency - Fri., May 22, 2026 You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience. Subscribe List Your PR Firm Sign In Toggle navigation Find a PR Firm Overall Alphabetically Geographically By PR Specialty Get Listed PR Firm Rankings Overall By Specialty By City/Region Get Ranked Find a PR Service Overall Alphabetical Index Add Your Service PR Experts Most Recent Topics Experts A - Z Add Your Bio PR Magazine Rankings Issue Editorial Calendar Submit Profile Subscribe to Mag. Advertise PR RFPs By Due Date By Type By Region Subscribe Daily PR News Blast Contact Us Sign In Find a PR Firm Overall Alphabetically Geographically By PR Specialty Get Listed Order '25 Dir. PR Firm Rankings Overall By Specialty By City/Region Get Ranked Find a PR Service Overall Alphabetical Index Add Your Service PR Experts Most Recent Topics Experts A - Z Add Your Bio PR Magazine Rankings Issue Editorial Calendar Submit Profile Subscribe to Mag. Advertise PR RFPs By Due Date By Type By Region Honesty Is Not the Same as Transparency Fri., May 22, 2026 By Paul Oestreicher Paul Oestreicher When I taught strategic communication at NYU, I emphasized a principle that is more misunderstood than ever: always be honest, but don’t assume you must disclose everything. Honesty is an ethical duty; openness is a matter of judgment. That distinction matters in politics, business and daily life. It is even more crucial in government, where leaders handle private, sensitive or consequential information. Public officials should tell the truth, but avoid revealing everything on impulse. Donald Trump has long blurred that line. He and his defenders equate indiscriminate disclosure with authenticity, as if speaking publicly automatically makes a statement honest, brave or transparent. It does not. Recklessness is not candor, and indiscretion is not openness. Neither deserves applause. Two recent episodes highlight this issue. They are not merely examples of poor taste or sloppy leadership; they reflect a deeper confusion about the true nature of honesty. Earlier this spring, Trump publicly disclosed highly personal medical information about Rep. Neal Dunn of Florida. He said Dunn had been told he would be “dead by June.” Speaker Mike Johnson quickly cut in: “OK, that wasn’t public.” Reports confirmed Trump had revealed information that had not been public before. The issue is not whether Trump was factually correct. Even if he was, the disclosure is not admirable. A president does not become more truthful by exposing someone else’s private medical crisis; doing so shows a lack of restraint, empathy and judgment—not honesty. Telling the truth does not grant a license to violate every boundary. The second example is more troubling because it involved military operations. At a White House briefing on the rescue of a downed American airman in Iran, Trump asked Joint Chiefs

More on this subject

pac.dog is a free, independent, non-partisan research tool. Every candidate, committee, bill, vote, member, and nonprofit on this site is mirrored from primary U.S. government sources (FEC, congress.gov, govinfo.gov, IRS) and each state's Secretary of State / election commission — no third-party data vendors, no paywall, no editorial intermediation. Citations to the originating source are on every detail page.