How Trump Has Changed, With Maggie Haberman
About this episode
How has Donald Trump changed in his second term? Haberman — the Times' White House correspondent and co-author of 'Regime Change' — describes a 'whirlwind': executive actions via Stephen Miller, the DOGE/Elon Musk episode, fired inspectors general, a disastrous tariff and trade war, and two foreign interventions — bombing Iran after Israel's attack and capturing Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. She reports that Truth Social has become an information loop in which aides feed Trump posts that then drive policy, and that he now governs visually, demanding briefings with pictures and maps. Corruption and self-enrichment are out in the open: the East Wing ballroom, the Kennedy Center renaming, crypto ventures, Truth Social monetization. The Epstein files saga fractured MAGA — 'the one place where Trump has really struggled.' She details the inner circle (Susie Wiles, Miller, Hegseth, Rubio), Trump's meetings with Zohran Mamdani, and questions about his age and health.