As you may have noticed by our general manager’s column next to this one, the Leader Publications staff is a fan of transparent government.

Unfortunately, that sediment is not shared by many of our leaders — including those currently occupying the White House.

Last week, the Trump administration announced that it would not be making the White House’s visitors logs viewable to the public, reversing one of the policies of the Obama presidency. These documents will once again be shielded from the eyes of the American taxpayers, as they have been for every prior presidential administration before Obama’s.

The move is a tremendous set back for those advocating for greater government transparency.

In a previous editorial, we criticized Lansing for its antiquated Freedom of Information Act policies, which prohibit the public from requesting records from state legislators and the governor’s office. However, at least Michigan is one of the exceptions in this regard, as 48 other states allow their residents to access information about the men and women they elect to serve them.

Unfortunately, Washington remains behind on this trend, and the Trump administration’s decision throws yet another layer of mud onto the public’s already opaque window into the operations of the world’s most powerful government.

While the improvements the Obama White House made toward improving transparency were meager at best — many of the visitor logs of his administration were never made public, either — it was at least was a start. Instead of improving on the Obama’s policy, Trump has instead decided to regress without providing any real justification outside of “it’s what everyone else did.”

While we have railed against claims that Trump is in bed with the Russian government and other nonsensical conspiracy theories that have sadly become mainstream among the president’s detractors, the truth is that many in the public do not trust him. Even members of his support base have begun to second-guess his decision making following the missile strike in Syria.

Pulling the rug out from underneath the public and denying them access to who the most powerful man in the world is meeting with does absolutely nothing to build that trust.

Just as Michigan voters deserve to know what their leaders are doing while on the clock, the American public has a right to know the affairs of its president.

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of General Manager Ambrosia Neldon and editors Scott Novak and Ted Yoakum.