Nixon White House Tapes ›Tape 725 › Conversation 725-034

Nixon, Granfil & Sonnenfeldt on Yugoslavia and Josip Broz Tito

Tuesday, May 16, 1972 · 12:54 PM–1:01 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Granfil, Toma;  Sonnenfeldt, Helmut ("Hal");  White House photographerConversation725-034 onTape 725 (tape position 04:01:57–04:11:20)StartTuesday, May 16, 1972 at 12:54 PMEndTuesday, May 16, 1972 at 1:01 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 725-034 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon met with Yugoslavian representative Toma Granfil and advisor Helmut Sonnenfeldt to discuss diplomatic relations and upcoming geopolitical objectives. The discussion centered on fostering strong bilateral ties with Yugoslavia, including the exchange of birthday greetings for President Josip Broz Tito, and clarifying the objectives of Nixon’s impending trip to Moscow. Nixon emphasized his commitment to maintaining independent state sovereignty and pledged to provide Tito with a personal, frank report on the outcomes of his Soviet negotiations.

Audio

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This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 04:01:57 into the tape and ends around 04:11:20.

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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4:01:57I don't think I've met Mr. Mujica.
4:01:57I don't think on any of my trips, but I hope to leave sometime.
4:02:00But he has our good wishes, not on me.
4:02:01I'm trying to get you to work with our state department people and our White House people.
4:02:21We will be as helpful as we can.
4:02:28That's right.
4:02:29Do you understand the Prime Minister?
4:02:40You'll have a residence here, yeah?
4:02:41Well, we are going to have a meeting.
4:02:43We've been here already, so you know the challenge.
4:02:46I hope you find a comfortable residence.
4:02:57It's that way, mister.
4:03:53I don't think I've met Mr. Moody Knight and I don't think I've met any Montrose.
4:04:21But I hope to leave sometime.
4:04:23But he has our good wishes.
4:04:26I mean, you can work with our city, our people, and our white house people.
4:04:30It's all those we can.
4:04:32Right.
4:04:32Right.
4:04:47That's right, he is the new prime minister.
4:04:59You'll, uh, you'll have a residence here, yeah?
4:05:01We'll be, uh, we'll be having a little meeting.
4:05:02You've been here already, so you know the town well.
4:05:05I hope you find a comfortable residence.
4:05:08I must say, you said a country girl would have a seat with you.
4:05:13Bye.
4:05:13Bye.
4:05:13It's that way.
4:05:14It's the other way.
4:05:17Thank you.
4:06:12Yeah.
4:06:13Yeah.
4:06:13Yeah.
4:06:14Yeah.
4:06:39Yes, that's a film of ours, his last visit to KFR.
4:06:47And at the same time, I'm sanctified with all my best wishes to God.
4:06:56I want you to convey to them that we have some fondest recollections of our own visit to your country.
4:07:15and also the Monterey elections of his visit to our country.
4:07:20And we feel we have a very close personal tie-down, and as we want to continue, it's hard to realize he's going to be in this tea on the first day of the 25th.
4:07:38I hope that I'll be 60 my next birthday, and I hope I am as much bigger at 60 as he has at 80.
4:07:47Thank you.
4:07:47It's awesome.
4:07:47It's not a valley, but it is.
4:07:49Our whole country is celebrating it.
4:07:50Right.
4:07:50So to be sure, I prepared a message on that.
4:07:52Would you work it out to send it through the ambassador?
4:07:55I will send the message in.
4:07:59Yes.
4:08:00The personal letter.
4:08:02Well, you can send it by publisher or by anything you do that way.
4:08:12Yeah.
4:08:13Perfect.
4:08:19and I'm sure that's the 25th of May.
4:08:22It's his birthday, right?
4:08:23Yes.
4:08:23We've got to get off before we leave for Moscow.
4:08:27Right.
4:08:28And to that point, we're in Moscow.
4:08:31We would not encourage you.
4:08:33So the president sent a message that he's looking forward to your visit to Moscow.
4:08:39He's hopeful that you'll be successful.
4:08:42The meeting visit was successful and very important for us.
4:08:47I mean, it will make it, make the world safer, make it safer for independent countries as we want.
4:08:54Yes.
4:08:55Our business can't help that way.
4:08:56We hope that it's in Moscow, not by independent countries, I mean.
4:09:01Their social system is their own business.
4:09:07They have a social system.
4:09:13This country has the right to its own existence, its own existence.
4:09:15It has been the example of that for many years.
4:09:17We believe in that principle.
4:09:29We want good relations with the Soviet Union.
4:09:30We want good relations with the U.S. government.
4:09:32And we will make some agreements with the Soviet Union that are bilateral.
4:09:36They will not be directed against anybody else.
4:09:38And to become the only president that we will, I will write him afterwards.
4:09:56I don't know.
4:10:15my personal observations for his own information, because he talked to me very frankly about his visits and his observations, and I only ever have the same observations from me.
4:10:29We'll have a good exchange of views.
4:10:30So, President Tito, I very much appreciate it.
4:10:32You can't reveal such a note.
4:10:33Well, that's a prime thought.
4:10:33That's a prime thought for your president.
4:10:34Prime thought.
4:10:35Very intelligent.
4:10:35Very soft.
4:10:35Nothing soft about him.
4:10:36Yeah, it's very personal.
4:10:45That's going to work out.
4:10:52I mean, he will be strong.

NARA Description

On May 16, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Toma Granfil, Helmut ("Hal") Sonnenfeldt, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:54 pm to 1:01 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 725-034 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 725-34

Date: May 16, 1972
Time: 12:54 pm - 1:01 pm
Location: Oval Office

The President met with Toma Granfil and Helmut Sonnenfeldt; the White
House photographer was present at the beginning of the meeting.

     Greetings

      [Photograph session]
          -Josip Broz Tito

      Gift to President
          -Film
                -President and Mrs. Tito
     Greetings
          -The President and Thelma C. (“Pat”) Nixon

                                     (rev. Jan-02)

Tito
       -President's trip to Belgrade
       -Tito's visit to US
       -Continued relationship
       -Age
             -President's age
       -The President’s view
       -Message from President for birthday
             -Instructions for Sonnenfeldt
             -Timing

President's trip to Moscow
    -Effect on Yugoslovia
    -Tito's wishes
          -People’s Republic of China [PRC] visit
    -Purposes
          -Improved understanding of other countries
          -Improved relations with Soviet Union
          -Improved relations with Yugoslavia
    -Bilateral agreements
          -Assurances for Tito
    -Report to Tito
    -Report to President of Mexico [Luis Echeverria Alvarez]
    -Report to Europeans

Tito
       -Report to President
       -Appreciation of President's previous visit[?]
       -The President’s view
       -Concerns
            -Vietnam
                  -Efforts of non-aligned countries in Paris peace talks
                        -Time to intervene
                        -Nature of talks
                  -Settlement
                        -Possibility
            -Relations with Soviet Union
                  -Compared with relations with US
            -Relations with US
                  -The President’s view
                  -Granfil’s view
            -Smallpox
                  -Luncheon for doctors

                                         (rev. Jan-02)

           -Gift to President
                 -Thank-you letter from President
                 -US ties with film's production
                       -US Information Agency [USIA]
                            -White House, Washington DC

      Best wishes
          -For President
          -For all countries

The President, Granfil, and Sonnenfeldt left at 1:01 pm.

Also recorded on May 16, 1972

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  • 725-032 12:46 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:46 pm to 12:49 pm.
  • 725-033 12:49 PM · 5 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Knayet Karim, Samuel Hoskinson, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:49 pm to 12:53 pm.
  • 725-042 1:01 PM · 7 min — United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 1:01 pm and 4:58 pm.
  • 340-001 1:12 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:12 pm to 1:13 pm.
  • 340-002 1:13 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, unknown person(s), and Zosimo T. Monzon met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 1:13 pm and 1:19 pm.
  • 340-003 1:19 PM · 48 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander P. Butterfield met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 1:19 pm to 1:20 pm.
  • 024-151 1:20 PM · 0 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at 1:20 pm.

All 113 conversations from May 16, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 725-034, May 16, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/725-034 (accessed September 18, 2026).