All posts tagged "maggie haberman"

Author reveals 'complete canard' Trump admin has been selling: 'Good at keeping secrets'

A New York Times reporter detailed how good the Trump administration is at keeping secrets.

Jonathan Swan, who co-wrote the book Regime Change with fellow NYT reporter Maggie Haberman, explained during an appearance on MS NOW's "Deadline: White House" that the Trump administration even kept secrets from senior officials.

"There is this phrase that they use, 'We're the most transparent administration ever.' Trump says it all the time," Swan said. "It's a complete canard. When they actually want to keep secrets, they're very good at it."

Swan added that the administration kept secrets about "the Trump family, investment from the Emiratis in their crypto business, or whether it's the memorandum of understanding to end the war [with] Iran."

Even "very senior people in the U.S. government had no idea what was in the document," Swan continued, referring to the memorandum of understanding at the heart of Trump's Iran deal.

"I'm talking about very senior people at the Pentagon, State Department, intelligence community," Swan said. "This is really a country being run by five, seven people, sitting around, and when you're that concerned with secrecy, with limiting leaks, you're not allowing certain people in the room who might have subject-matter expertise to offer."

Swan and Haberman's book has already revealed stories from inside the administration, like a "freakout" among President Donald Trump's top staffover the Epstein files and First Lady Melania Trump's objections to his White House overhaul. Swan said that the second administration is much different from the first in regard to its secrecy.

"It became really apparent to us through this reporting," he said. "This group of people around Trump, much more than the first term, is very good at keeping secrets."

'Biggest leaker' in the Trump White House singled out by ex-CNN anchor

A high-profile ex-CNN anchor singled out the insider said to be the "biggest leaker" in the Trump White House.

Don Lemon said during an interview with Legal AF host Michael Popok that Vice President "J.D. Vance is like the biggest leaker of them all" in the White House based on what "many people have said and according to some of the reporting."

Lemon and Popok were talking about Trump's efforts to hunt down the insider who leaked details of a "freakout" in the Situation Room over the Epstein files. The freakout is detailed in the forthcoming book Regime Change by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.

"Donald Trump could very well be one of the people who leaked to" Haberman, Lemon admitted, adding that it's possible Trump "doesn't even realize it."

However, he and Popok made the case for suspecting Vance is at least "the biggest source for people," as Lemon put it.

"He looks good in the story, relatively," Popok said, referring to the NY Times reporting on the Epstein freakout in the Situation Room. "Among the liars in the room, he looks like he's the one that says, 'let's get the story out about Donald Trump'...I'm like, among those people in the room, that was like the best thing to say."

Lemon pointed to reporting on the Iran war that also seemed to favor Vance.

"Remember, the reporting was that J.D. Vance was the only one in the room who was against it," Lemon explained. "It's like, well, how does J.D. Vance always come out looking better than anyone?"

Trump Chickens Out and Won’t Go After NYT Reporters for Epstein & Iran Leaks?! by Legal AF

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Trump White House hunting for insider who leaked details about Epstein freakout: report

The Trump administration is launching a "massive leak hunt" to find out who spilled details on a panicked conversation inside the White House.

A new book by journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan has the Trump White House scrambling to find out who leaked details about the Trump administration's "freakout" over the release of the Epstein files, according to reporting by CNN. The New York Times published an excerpt of the book, "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," on Wednesday.

The book's excerpt describes a meeting that Trump didn't attend or know about in the Situation Room. Included in the meeting were his senior aides, Vice President JD Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, last year to plan how to contain the fallout.

Others present included then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel, according to reporting by The Daily Beast. According to an excerpt of Haberman and Swan's book, Vance "appeared panicked" about how the Epstein files would divide the president's base.

CNN cited a person who "detected" the search for the leaker to confirm that the White House is now hunting them down.

NYT's Maggie Haberman delivers blunt verdict on Trump's 'very confusing' war

Trump's reasoning for carrying on the war in Iran while facing upcoming midterms and trying to open the Strait of Hormuz for shipping doesn't make sense, said New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman.

"I see it as very confusing," Haberman told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday. "It is very hard to know what is happening. Frankly, from either government."

Haberman pointed out that Iranians "are facing economic difficulties. There's no question about that," but "gauging exactly what that means is quite hard," she said.

"The economic issues that are being created by the energy crisis from this war are pretty measurable in terms of the cost of gas at the pump," at home in the U.S., though, Haberman added. But Haberman is perplexed that Trump's strategy with the war doesn't factor in voters' discontent with the bump at the pump.

"We'll see if President Trump gets more engaged in the midterms and feels as if there's some personal interest in it for him," Haberman said. "Maybe he will decide he wants to travel, but as long as gas prices remain where they are, it's not a great climate for his party."

Iran and U.S. Naval forces exchanged fire on Thursday. Trump boasted U.S. military action in a Truth Social post shortly after the skirmish, writing that Iranian ships "dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!

NYT's Maggie Haberman hurls Trump's 'striking' Rob Reiner remark back in his face

Veteran political journalist Maggie Haberman highlighted damning comments by President Donald Trump in the wake of the Hollywood director Rob Reiner's death.

"One of the things that's striking here is President Trump celebrated," when Reiner was killed, Haberman said on "The Lead" with host Jake Tapper on Thursday. "President Trump said something insensitive at best when Rob Reiner and his wife were killed, allegedly, by their child."

Haberman was referring to Trump's Truth Social post after the beloved celebrity's slaying. Trump appeared to make the director's death all about himself, even though it allegedly stemmed from issues with his son, Nick Reiner.

"A tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME," Trump wrote. "He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness."

Despite this, Trump insists that ABC fire Jimmy Kimmel for jokes that the president is trying to frame as threats against his life made right before the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Kimmel has clarified that the punchlines in question were aimed at the age difference between Trump and his wife, Melania.

Tapper noted that Trump also "celebrated" the death of former FBI director Robert Mueller, who led an investigation into the president.

Cemetery official declined to press charges fearing retaliation from Trump fans: Haberman

An official at Arlington National Cemetery who filed an incident report over a reported dust-up with staffers of the Trump campaign declined to press charges because she feared MAGA supporters may come after her.

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman joined CNN's "The Source" on Wednesday night to talk about her newspaper's reporting that the family of a Green Beret soldier buried in the cemetery was "clearly displeased" that his gravesite appeared in a TikTok video posted to Trump's account.

Lawmakers and legal experts have said Trump may have violated federal law banning campaign photos and videos in certain sections of the cemetery, including Section 60 — reserved for members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan — where the Green Beret soldier is buried.

During their conversation, Haberman noted an "important" aspect of their reporting that the official who filed an incident report at the cemetery declined to press charges.

ALSO READ: Cruelty is all the Republicans have left

"Military officials said that she was afraid that she was going to be retaliated against by Trump supporters," said Haberman. "It's worth noting that the Trump campaign targeted her, suggesting she was having a mental health episode."

Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, has flatly denied a physical altercation took place, telling NPR: "We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made."

"The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony," Cheung said in the statement.

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Family of Green Beret buried in Arlington cemetery 'clearly displeased' by Trump: Haberman

A New York Times reporter joined CNN on Wednesday night to discuss her reporting on the family of a Green Beret buried in Arlington National Cemetery expressing concern that former President Donald Trump's campaign filmed at his gravesite without permission and in an area where campaign photos are banned.

Trump's TikTok account posted a video showing him smiling and giving a thumbs-up as he attacked the Biden administration's handling of the Afghanistan exit.

Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano died by suicide in 2020 and was buried in Section 60 of the Arlington cemetery, which is reserved for people who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. His family told the Times that Marckesano's gravesite was caught in pictures with Trump.

While another family said they wanted Trump there, this family did not. Furthermore, the cemetery bans photos and videos taken for campaign use.

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"The Marckesano family was not contacted or asked for this, but his gravestone is now in that TikTok video from behind," said Times reporter Maggie Haberman on CNN, noting the front of the gravestone with his name is in pictures posted online with Trump giving a thumbs-up.

"They were very clear, the family, in a statement to us, that they really support this other family and other families that lost people in the Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul in Afghanistan, but that this is a restricted area and that they would hope that everyone would be respectful of that. It was a restrained statement but it was very clearly displeased," said Haberman.

The Trump campaign declined to "directly address" what the family said when asked about the TikTok video, according to Haberman.

Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, told the Times in a statement that “the campaign will continue to respect the wishes of the Gold Star family members who invited President Trump.”

Haberman noted Gold Star families are not a "monolith" and have differing political opinions. The "broader issue" in this case is whether Trump violated federal law.

"So far the Trump campaign has yet to provide documentation of its claim that it was permitted to do this and that there was an agreement," she said.

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Maggie Haberman 'struck' as Dems baited Trump at DNC — and 'got under his skin'

Kamala Harris and the Obamas clearly got under Donald Trump's skin at the Democratic National Convention — and Democrats appear to be baiting the MAGA leader, according to New York Times senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman.

Haberman joined CNN on Friday afternoon, and was asked about Trump's rebuttal on Fox News in which he slammed Harris for failing to talk about China, fracking crime, poverty, the trade deficit and more.

"It was just a lot of complaining," Trump said.

Haberman told anchor Wolf Blitzer the interviews show Trump is "very reactive in all things when he is not in command."

"We've seen this over the course of the last nine years that he's been in politics or the political arena," she said. "He's clearly jarred by her."

ALSO READ: Inside the Democratic National Convention corporate moneyfest

Trump has tried to return to the national conversation following Joe Biden's exit from the race.

Blitzer played a clip of former President Barack Obama attacking Trump over his "obsession with crowd sizes." In the clip, Obama appears to mock Trump using hand gestures to describe the "sizes."

"Both of the Obamas speeches got under his skin," said Haberman. "He is very reactive to both of them. We have seen that since 2011 when Trump spread the lie that Obama was possibly born in Kenya and therefore illegitimate to be president."

Haberman then revealed what "struck" her most at the convention.

"There was a pretty focused message about Trump and we heard it over and over again from the Obamas, from the vice president, from others that he is a rich guy who cares about his rich friends," she said. "What you also saw were comments that I think were designed to bait Trump. That was one of them."

"The more that Trump reacts self-destructively," noted Haberman, "the better Democrats feel it is for them."

Watch the clip below or at this link.