President Donald Trump sharply criticized two New York Times reporters Saturday, one day after the Justice Department subpoenaed multiple Times journalists as part of a federal investigation into alleged leaks involving Air Force One security.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump lashed out at White House correspondent Maggie Haberman and White House reporter Jonathan Swan, who co-authored the book Regime Change about his second administration.
Trump referred to Haberman as “Maggot” and called Swan a “flunky,” accusing both reporters of publishing inaccurate coverage over the past decade.
“Maggot Hagerman has covered me incorrectly for ten years,” Trump wrote. “Her book is a joke! 90% of it is Fake News.”
The president also renewed criticism of The New York Times, referencing his ongoing lawsuit against the newspaper and accusing its reporting of attempting to influence elections.
“I don’t mind bad press, if they are right. I do mind Fake Reporting,” Trump wrote, adding that he believed the publication’s reporting had failed to prevent his return to the White House.
Trump also touted his physical and cognitive health, saying he had completed medical testing at Walter Reed Medical Center and suggesting Haberman and Swan would struggle to perform as well on similar exams.
The White House later clarified that Trump was referring to medical testing conducted in May rather than a new examination.
Following Trump’s remarks, Swan responded on X by posting an image showing Regime Change atop Amazon’s bestseller rankings, writing that “many people disagree with the president’s assessment.”
Earlier Saturday, Haberman appeared on MSNBC’s The Weekend, where she questioned the administration’s limited public disclosures regarding Trump’s health.
Haberman said Trump’s medical condition remained “a black box” and noted the president had made several trips to Walter Reed Medical Center during his second term.
She also observed that Trump, now 80, “doesn’t speak with the same crispness” he did years ago, while acknowledging that such changes can accompany aging.
The dispute comes as the Justice Department continues investigating leaks concerning the security of the administration’s newly retrofitted Air Force One, a jet donated by Qatar that recently entered service, per the Daily Mail.
According to The New York Times, federal prosecutors subpoenaed several Times reporters to testify before a Manhattan grand jury after the newspaper reported that Trump used an older Air Force One aircraft following the NATO summit in Turkey because of security concerns surrounding the new jet.
The report cited anonymous sources who said the newer aircraft lacked some of the defensive capabilities available on the older presidential plane, including advanced missile-defense systems.
The Times reported that federal agents personally delivered subpoenas to several journalists, including Julian Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt.
David McCraw, an attorney representing the newspaper, criticized the move, saying the appearance of federal agents at journalists’ homes should concern Americans who value constitutional protections for a free press.
