A prominent journalist has pulled back the curtain on a White House gripped by tension and led by a president who is lashing out at his staff more and more.
Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, who appeared on CNN as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrapped up her final day, was asked about morale in the West Wing amid what anchor Laura Coates called “a lot of midterm anxiety.”
“It’s not a happy environment, by any of the reporting that we have,” said Haberman—whose reporting is so effective that Donald Trump has given her the nickname “Maggot Haberman.”
“The president has been in a pretty frustrated mood for a while about Iran, which, again, is of his own making.”
The Iran conflict kicked off without congressional approval on Feb. 28. Trump said it would last six weeks maximum; it has been exactly six months.
Haberman, who co-wrote the book Regime Change about Trump’s second term with fellow Times reporter Jonathan Swan, said Trump “does not have the patience for long-term diplomacy or having these lengthy conversations to try to get out of a situation.”
She noted Trump had expected the conflict in Iran “to be a quick war,” but instead the administration is contending with “a further depletion of munitions” and near-constant leaks. “He is frustrated about leaks and on and on and on,” she said. “It is very much not a happy place right now.”
Speaking separately on MS NOW, Haberman said Trump has been “lashing out” at his staff, and that “most people have decided that they want to go do something else.”
With Democrats projected to retake the House and possibly the Senate in November, she suggested the mood could sour further still. “He is not in a great place with his staff, according to everyone we talked to,” she said. “He is lashing out a lot, which tends to happen when things are not going well.”
The White House did not dispute the substance of Haberman’s reporting so much as attack her directly. “Maggie Haberman of the Failing New York Times constantly speaks like she’s a Trump psychologist when in reality she just has a creepy obsession with the President and clings onto him for relevance,” White House Spokesman Davis Ingle said on Thursday. “It’s been very sad to watch for years.”
The Daily Beast has also approached the White House for a statement.
Trump has not named a replacement for Leavitt, whose last day was Thursday. Unlike other departures from the administration, sources told the Daily Mail that Trump did not want her to go. “Trump really didn’t want her to leave, as he actually trusts her and doesn’t like having to deal with new people in his circle when he wants to focus on getting stuff done in his time left in office,” an insider told the tabloid.
Haberman echoed that assessment on CNN, saying Leavitt “had his trust in a way that most people did not in term one who served in that role, the press secretary job.”
Trump has said Leavitt will stay on as his “top outside adviser” and an “influential voice” within the Republican Party heading into the midterms, as she returns to MAGA Inc., the political action committee where she previously worked as spokesperson.
