Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan Take Us Inside Trump’s ‘Imperial Presidency’
In their new book, “Regime Change,” New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan take readers inside President Trump’s return to the White House in 2025 and the chaotic year that followed. It’s an incredibly revealing look at a president and an administration untethered from the historical constraints of the office and willing to take extraordinary risks in pursuit of absolute power.
Maggie and Jonathan reveal what they learned about Elon Musk’s chaotic reign in the White House, why so many of the top tech CEOs were eager to get into the president’s good graces, and what Trump seems obsessed with in 2026. They also discuss the future of Trump's political movement and the challenges Democrats will face from this administration should they regain power in Congress.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
Come see Kara live in DC. She is sitting down with Former Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on July 16 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, and you can be in the room. Register now.
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On with Kara Swisher: Maggie Haberman Makes Sense of Donald Trump
Hey Pivot listeners! The Pivot team is off for the Monday holiday, so instead of your regularly-scheduled episode, you're getting an exciting surprise: an episode of our sister podcast, On with Kara Swisher!
You're welcome, and we'll be back on Friday with more Pivot!
Donald Trump has said journalist Maggie Haberman is like his “psychiatrist” — a remark she dismisses as a meaningless and failed attempt at flattery. Yet Haberman does have a deep understanding of what makes the former president tick, cultivated through years of covering City Hall in New York City and then Donald J. Trump for The New York Times. Her recent book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,” tells Trump’s origin story and chronicles his unexpected takeover of the Republican party and his consolidation of power in Washington. “He’s not a political genius,” Haberman tells Kara, “he is a genius about human emotions and a certain darkness in what animates people.” So will Trump run again in 2024? Haberman says that “he’s backed himself into a corner where he has to,” but she’s not sure whether she'll be covering him.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about the newsmakers: Elon Musk’s about-face on the Twitter deal and Peter Thiel’s financing foray into key Senate races and ... a conservative dating app.
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You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Recode Decode: Maggie Haberman
Maggie Haberman, the White House correspondent for the New York Times, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the rest of the country has bypassed Trump's failure to lead on the coronavirus outbreak; his exposure to COVID-19 at Mar-a-Lago and refusal to self-quarantine; and the toxic cocktail of practices in his administration: Infighting, tiptoeing, and sucking up. She also discusses CDC director Anthony Fauci's "unimpeachable" credibility vs. President Trump's trust problem, how Vice President Pence is doing at the helm of the coronavirus task force, and how this period could have a bigger impact on Trump's re-election chances than previous crises. Plus: Who is actually running things at the White House right now, and can Trump operate his campaign without mass rallies?
Featuring:
Maggie Haberman (@maggienyt), White House correspondent, New York Times
Host:
Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large
More to explore:
On Reset, Arielle Duhaime-Ross explores why — and how — tech is changing everything.
On Recode Media, Peter Kafka interviews business titans, journalists, comedians and podcasters about the collision of tech and media.
On Pivot, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway talk about the big tech news stories of the week, who's winning, who's failing, and what comes next.
And on Land of the Giants, Jason Del Rey chronicled the rise of Amazon. Season 2 will focus on Netflix and is coming soon!
About Recode by Vox:
Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.
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