Donald Trump spent part of his Saturday unloading on one of his favorite targets: the press.
The president erupted in a lengthy Truth Social rant aimed at New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman after she said the White House has become increasingly opaque about Trump’s health. Trump responded by calling her names, dismissing her reporting as “fake,” and threatening legal action.
“Maggot Hagerman has covered me incorrectly for ten years,” Trump wrote, reviving one of his familiar insults for the veteran reporter. He went on to claim her reporting was “Fake News” before escalating the attack even further.
“She has made a living off her bad reporting, and will pay the price when our Multi Billion Dollar Lawsuit against The Failing New York Times gets to Court,” Trump wrote, adding that he doesn’t mind negative coverage—so long as it isn’t what he considers “Fake Reporting.”
He also claimed that if Haberman ever wrote “the true story” about him, it would be “loaded with lots of SUCCESS.”
Trump’s outburst came just hours after Haberman appeared on MSNBC’s The Weekend, where she discussed the administration’s limited public disclosures about the president’s health.
“His health is like a black box inside that administration much more than almost any other issue,” Haberman said, arguing that the White House has released less information over time, including after several visits to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Haberman was careful not to speculate about Trump’s mental fitness, saying she did not feel qualified to assess his cognitive condition. Instead, she argued that questions about the health of an 80-year-old president are legitimate regardless of party.
“I think that people can very legitimately question whether 80-year-old people should be president,” she said.
Trump used his Truth Social post to insist there is nothing to question.
He pointed to what he described as a “perfect physical” at Walter Reed—apparently referring to the annual exam he underwent in May—and once again boasted that he “aced” a cognitive screening test.
“Got every question right,” Trump wrote, before claiming that few people in Washington could pass the same exam and singling out both Haberman and fellow New York Times reporter Jonathan Swan for ridicule.
The episode follows a familiar pattern. When faced with reporting he dislikes, Trump often responds with personal attacks against journalists, accusations of “fake news,” and threats of lawsuits. This time was no different. A discussion about transparency surrounding the president’s health quickly turned into another broadside against the media.
Watch the remarks that appear to have set Trump off below:
