Donald Trump has become a recluse, according to a bombshell new book.
The revelation was made by New York Times journalists Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman, who offer a peek inside the White House during Trump’s second term with their tome Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.
They say that while Trump has always enjoyed the comfort of his own space, his ventures into the world beyond it are becoming fewer and further between.
“While Trump had always been a homebody, during his first term he often got out on the road, appearing at dozens of political rallies,” they wrote. “In the first year of his second term, he became almost entirely housebound, shuttling mainly between his comfort zones—the White House or one of his clubs.
“Following the 2024 election, Trump had told aides that he was done with rallies, done with campaigning. This was barely a surprise to those around him, given the two assassination attempts. He had worried about his personal safety traveling outside the White House during his first term but was now far more cautious than ever before.”
Trump’s presence at rallies became one of the defining images of his political career up to his return to the White House, but since last January, questions have been raised about whether he is more focused on foreign than domestic politics.
In July 2024, Trump was delivering a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when he was shot in the ear by Thomas Crooks.
Two months later, he was the subject of another assassination attempt while golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
He was also present at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where a gunman attempted to rush into the Washington Hilton.
Amongst the titbits of information pulled from behind the curtain, the authors also strongly pointed out that Trump’s mindset regarding his own power has changed since his first term.
In an astonishing revelation during Swan and Haberman’s interview with MS Now, Swan said, “He wants to reshape the world.
“I don’t think he would have gone to war in Iran in the same circumstances in Term 1. I don’t think he would have rolled the dice on what he did in Venezuela… He wouldn’t have started a trade war with the whole world… But he’s in a different mindset, and he’s untethered from all of those domestic political considerations [of] the first term.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
