Donald Trump had a nationally syndicated radio segment in the 2000s called "Trumped!," a brief daily vignette in which the Donald touched on a broad array of topics from whether fish have feelings to Larry Summers' speech on women and math. The segment hit the air in 2004, during the same period the real estate tycoon founded Trump University and other ventures currently under media scrutiny.
BuzzFeed News reviewed the show's website, but was unable to obtain audio clips. Most radio stations contacted said they hadn't archived it. However, a spokesperson for KIIS-FM in Los Angeles said, "We simply don't have the rights to clear this because it's no longer covered by fair usage."
The segment, which was syndicated by Premiere Networks and sponsored by Office Depot, lasted approximately 90 seconds and aired on hundreds of stations around the country. At its outset, Premiere billed "Trumped!" as "the biggest launch in radio history," and Trump himself was quoted in the New York Times suggesting the show would be "bigger than Rush Limbaugh." But like many ventures Trump attempted in the 2000s — Trump University, Trump Vodka, Trump Steaks, and GoTrump.com, to name a few — his radio show apparently failed to meet these lofty expectations and was ultimately discontinued, ending in 2008.
A spokesperson for Premiere Networks, who also said the company had not stored audio of the show, did not answer a question about why "Trumped!" was taken off the airwaves. The spokesperson further said that Premiere did not have the right to grant permission to use the audio.
A spokesperson for Office Depot was unfamiliar with the segment.
"I have no knowledge of the videos to which you're referring, any details regarding them, nor who'd be able to assist. Again, neither I nor any of the colleagues on my team were here during that time frame," she said.
The Trump presidential campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment, leaving it unclear who holds the rights to the audio.
Meanwhile, the show's website, which can be accessed as it appeared on certain dates through the summer of 2006, gives some sense of Trump's commentary, featuring descriptions of segments including "No More Viagra for Rapists," "Don't Hire Smokers," a chastity club in the Ivy League ("Can you believe it? Chastity?"), Michael Jackson's acquittal ("Stay out of the tabloids and, for goodness sake, don't say hello to those little boys"), and the ethics of fishing ("I believe it's painful for the fish"). But for the show's final years and on other politically salient topics mentioned on the site, such as the legalization of marijuana in Denver and Elton John's union to his partner under a new British law for same-sex couples, it is impossible to know what Trump said without access to the audio files.