Overview of How Trump Has Changed, With Maggie Haberman
Ezra Klein speaks with New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman about the first year and a half of Donald Trump’s second term, drawing from her reporting in Regime Change. Their conversation focuses on how Trump now governs, what has changed about his information environment, why Iran and trade became central flashpoints, and how Trump’s style of power has reshaped the Republican Party, Congress, and the broader political system. Haberman’s core argument is that Trump is less a coherent ideologue than a highly personal, reactive force whose instincts, grievances, and appetite for spectacle drive policy.
Main Takeaways
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Trump is not running out of steam so much as colliding with “Trump reality.”
Many early-term initiatives looked explosive and consequential, but Haberman argues that several of them either failed, morphed, or exposed the administration’s lack of strategy. -
Second-term Trump is more centralized and more opaque.
A small circle controls access, major decisions are made by a few people in the room, and traditional interagency processes are weaker than in Trump’s first term. -
The administration still governs through unilateral power.
Haberman highlights firings of inspectors general, the shutdown of USAID, executive actions on DEI and transgender issues, and a broader pattern of acting first and asking later. -
Iran is personal, strategic, and emotional for Trump.
Haberman says Trump’s hostility toward Iran is not just Netanyahu-driven; it is rooted in years of grievance, threats against him, the Butler shooting, and his sense of being under siege. -
Trump’s world is increasingly visual, theatrical, and self-reinforcing.
He absorbs information through images and TV-like presentation, and his team feeds that habit with visuals, clips, and spectacle. -
Corruption is now normalized in a way that would have been politically fatal before.
Haberman argues the problem is not just exposure, but the collapse of bipartisan accountability and the public’s learned inability to treat each new scandal as decisive.
Trump’s Second Term: What Changed
More concentrated power
Haberman says Trump 2.0 is governed by a much smaller core than his first term. If you are not physically in the room, you may not know what decision was made until after the fact. The National Security Council and broader interagency machinery are far less important than they used to be.
Less process, more impulse
Trump still likes to issue orders quickly and personally. Haberman describes a White House that is more open-ended and free-flowing by design, with people wandering in and out, bringing lists, visuals, grievances, and requests directly to him.
A government built for his preferences
Unlike in 2017, staffers now seem more willing to accommodate Trump’s preferences for spontaneity, short attention spans, and visually driven briefings. That makes the whole operation more reactive and less institutional.
Iran, Revenge, and Regime Change
Why Iran matters so much to Trump
Haberman emphasizes that Trump’s Iran hawkishness predates his presidency. He has long viewed Iran as humiliating the United States, and he has always preferred hardline action over diplomacy.
The siege mentality
She connects Trump’s current view of Iran to several events:
- the prosecution and investigations after his first term,
- the alleged Iran-linked murder-for-hire plot,
- the Butler assassination attempt,
- the hacking of campaign emails,
- and the broader sense among Trump and his allies that they are perpetually under threat.
Netanyahu’s role
Haberman says Netanyahu did try to sell Trump on regime change, but that Trump was already receptive. American officials reportedly thought some of Netanyahu’s broader regime-change ideas were unrealistic or “farcical,” yet Trump still liked the idea of bold action and believed things would work out.
Information, Media, and the “Human Printer”
What Trump knows now
Trump’s information diet is much narrower and more curated than in his first term. He gets fed positive reinforcement through:
- Truth Social,
- Natalie Harp, the so-called “human printer,”
- loyal aides who avoid giving him bad news,
- and a media ecosystem that is often much friendlier than before.
Visuals matter more than facts
Haberman says Trump processes the world visually. He dislikes dense briefing books and responds better to:
- charts,
- posters,
- clips,
- videos,
- and carefully staged presentations.
That same tendency is exploited by aides who use visuals, social-media-ready content, and even trolling tactics to shape his perception of reality.
Controversy as strategy
The administration frequently uses spectacle and provocation to generate attention. Haberman notes that this is not just communication; it is a way of reinforcing Trump’s own sense that his view is reality.
Congress, Republicans, and the Collapse of Oversight
Congress plays a supplicant role
One of the book’s central observations is how little Congress matters in this White House. Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders are portrayed as largely deferential to Trump.
Why scandals don’t stick
Haberman argues that accountability used to come from a chain of:
- investigations,
- subpoenas,
- bipartisan congressional action,
- and then news-cycle consequences.
That chain has broken down because:
- Republicans won’t police Trump,
- agencies have been hollowed out,
- and the public now lives in a highly partisan media environment where people hear only what they want to hear.
Corruption is visible, but normalized
Haberman describes Trump-era self-dealing as unprecedented in scale, but also unusually tolerated because:
- the public has become desensitized,
- Republicans fear Trump,
- and his followers often treat him more like a celebrity than a president.
Trump’s Mindset: Legacy, Power, and Survival
Legacy means monuments, not legislation
Trump is deeply focused on physical, visible monuments:
- the East Wing project,
- the ballroom,
- the arch,
- the Kennedy Center,
- and other structures that broadcast permanence.
Haberman says his version of legacy is not policy achievement but proof that he cannot be erased.
He thinks in “great man of history” terms
Trump appears to see himself as a singular figure whose job is to leave a mark on the world, not to do the boring work of governance. That helps explain his limited interest in traditional policymaking.
He believes things always work out for him
Haberman repeatedly returns to Trump’s conviction that he survives everything:
- bankruptcies,
- indictments,
- attacks,
- political setbacks,
- and media scrutiny.
That belief fuels his risk tolerance and his disregard for expert warnings.
Health and Aging
Haberman does not buy the idea that Trump is cognitively transformed in some dramatic way, but she does say he is:
- slower than he was years ago,
- more repetitive,
- and more visibly physically compromised.
She notes the reporting around:
- bruising,
- chronic venous insufficiency,
- lack of transparency about medical details,
- and general uncertainty about his real condition.
Her broader point is that electing an 80-year-old president is always a gamble.
Notable Insights
- “It’s not running out of steam. It’s running into Trump reality.”
- “There is no Trumpism, there is only Trump.”
Haberman and Ezra Klein debate this, with Haberman arguing that MAGA is a movement inside the Republican Party, not the entire party itself. - Trump’s world is “borderless.”
Meetings flow into one another, and whoever is present at the moment can shape outcomes. - Controversy is often the point.
Provocation is not just a side effect; it is part of the governing style.
Book Recommendations from Maggie Haberman
Haberman closes by recommending:
- Charlie Savage, Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency
A strong look at how executive power expanded under George W. Bush after 9/11. - Belle Burden, Strangers
A propulsive book about wealth and divorce. - Keith McNally, I Regret Everything
A sharp, entertaining memoir.
Bottom Line
This episode argues that Trump’s second term is more disciplined in appearance but more personal, visual, and unilateral in practice. Haberman’s central message is that Trump remains less an ideological president than a force of instinct, grievance, spectacle, and self-protection. The system around him has adapted to that reality in ways that make accountability harder, not easier.