--- title: Sarah Sanders 'Can't Guarantee' Donald Trump Didn't Use Slur description: White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said she couldn't guarantee that there isn't a tape of Trump using a racial slur. canonical: https://time.com/5367143/omarosa-manigault-donald-trump-tape-n-word-sarah-sanders/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-14T19:34:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:08:47.801Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sarah Sanders 'Can't Guarantee' There's No Tape of President Trump Using a Racial Slur og:description: "I can certainly say I’ve never heard him use that term or anything similar." og:url: https://time.com/5367143/omarosa-manigault-donald-trump-tape-n-word-sarah-sanders/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50a20dcf738626d0/6989293eab6d77d8d66b1f08/gettyimages-867190728.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3836 og:image:height: 2158 og:image:alt: White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders Holds Press Briefing At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sarah Sanders 'Can't Guarantee' There's No Tape of President Trump Using a Racial Slur twitter:description: "I can certainly say I’ve never heard him use that term or anything similar." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50a20dcf738626d0/6989293eab6d77d8d66b1f08/gettyimages-867190728.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sarah Sanders 'Can't Guarantee' There's No Tape of President Trump Using a Racial Slur > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7ace6c9d-87bb-44d8-90fa-1ea42ad46db1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Aug 14, 2018 7:34 PM UTC  Director of Communications for the White House Public Liaison Office Omarosa Manigault during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on Oct. 27, 2017. Director of Communications for the White House Public Liaison Office Omarosa Manigault during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on Oct. 27, 2017.Drew Angerer—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Aug 14, 2018 7:34 PM UTC White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders attacked Omarosa Manigault-Newman’s “integrity” as the former Trump aide continued making damaging allegations about the president, but said she couldn’t guarantee that there isn’t a tape of Trump using a racial slur. “I can’t guarantee anything,” Sanders said at the press briefing Tuesday afternoon when asked if she could assure the American people that they’d never hear a recording of Trump saying the N-word, which Omarosa claims exists. But she noted that Trump had explicitly denied using the term on Twitter, and added, “I can certainly say I’ve never heard him use that term or anything similar.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1029183344397955074) Omarosa has unleashed explosive allegations about the president surrounding the publication of her tell-all memoir “Unhinged.” Omarosa claims old “Apprentice” tapes exist of Trump using the N-word and revealed that [she secretly recorded](http://time.com/5365352/omarosa-white-house-trump-corruption/) Chief of Staff John Kelly firing her in the Situation Room this past January, as well as making other recordings of conversations with Trump and aides. Trump [lashed out](http://time.com/5366479/trump-omarosa-dog/) at Omarosa on Twitter, calling her a “crazed, crying lowlife” and referring to her as a “dog.” Trump’s campaign is [filing an arbitration action](http://time.com/5366882/president-trump-omarosa-confidentiality/) against her as well, alleging a breach of a secrecy agreement. **Read More:** [_Omarosa’s Tapes Show an Ongoing Problem With White House Security_](http://time.com/5366978/omarosa-tape-trump-operations-security/) “I think it’s really sad what she’s doing,” Sanders said of Omarosa Tuesday afternoon, but wouldn’t confirm or deny whether Omarosa signed a non-disclosure agreement for her time at the White House. As for whether Trump’s attacks on Omarosa are racially charged, Sanders argued that “this has absolutely has nothing to do with race and everything to do with the president calling out someone’s lack of integrity.” She said Trump is “an equal opportunity person” in how he criticizes others and “fights fire with fire.” Omarosa first entered Trump’s orbit in 2004 when she was a contestant on his reality television show “The Apprentice” She returned years later on “The Celebrity Apprentice” and “All-Star Celebrity Apprentice,” and she became a notorious reality TV villain during her time on the show. “Omarosa always promises and delivers high drama,” Trump tweeted in 2013\. “She won’t backstab-she’ll come at you from the front.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/310919333125685248) > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/310920601231568896) Now that Trump finds himself at the receiving end of Omarosa’s blade, he doesn’t seem to think she’s so “honest.” Although the president continues to tweet about the controversy, Sanders blamed the media for covering and giving a “large platform” to Omarosa, who she refused to name throughout the briefing and simply referred to as “an individual” in her responses. “I think,” Sanders said, “it would be better off for all of us to walk away.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5367143/omarosa-manigault-donald-trump-tape-n-word-sarah-sanders/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5367143/omarosa-manigault-donald-trump-tape-n-word-sarah-sanders/"},"headline":"Sarah Sanders 'Can't Guarantee' There's No Tape of President Trump Using a Racial Slur","datePublished":"2018-08-14T19:34:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:08:47.801Z","description":"White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said she couldn't guarantee that there isn't a tape of Trump using a racial slur.","url":"https://time.com/5367143/omarosa-manigault-donald-trump-tape-n-word-sarah-sanders/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50a20dcf738626d0/6989293eab6d77d8d66b1f08/gettyimages-867190728.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50a20dcf738626d0/6989293eab6d77d8d66b1f08/gettyimages-867190728.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders Holds Press Briefing At The White House","caption":"White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders Holds Press Briefing At The White House","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5367143/omarosa-manigault-donald-trump-tape-n-word-sarah-sanders/","name":"Sarah Sanders 'Can't Guarantee' There's No Tape of President Trump Using a Racial Slur"}}]}] ```