Maggie Haberman on How Trump Has Changed
About this episode
Maggie Haberman argues Donald Trump is older, less sharp, more meandering, and less filtered than in his first term — possibly affected by the Butler assassination attempt and Biden's withdrawal — yet fundamentally unchanged. She traces his instincts to a New York upbringing steeped in machine politics, patronage, racial wedge issues, and dominance. A second administration, she warns, would face fewer institutional restraints and be staffed with more loyal personnel, with durable priorities in immigration enforcement, tariffs, expanded presidential authority, and retribution against perceived enemies. Klein and Haberman discuss why threats against the media and Justice Department politicization should be taken literally, why the attorney general and Pentagon leadership matter most, and Haberman's view that even in defeat Trump might declare another candidacy to keep control of the Republican field.