Haberman Details Trump’s 5-to-6-Person Inner Circle in New Book Regime Change
Updated
Updated · Democracy Now! · Aug 18
Haberman Details Trump’s 5-to-6-Person Inner Circle in New Book Regime Change
3 articles · Updated · Democracy Now! · Aug 18
Summary
Haberman said many of Trump’s biggest second-term decisions are made with just five or six people in the room, a dynamic she and Jonathan Swan describe in Regime Change.
Natalie Harp figures prominently in that circle; Haberman called her a constant presence and said Trump relies on her as an alternate channel who curates favorable information.
That scrutiny intensified after Harp was identified among the few aides on Trump’s secretive departure from a NATO summit in Turkey, when he was covertly moved from an older Air Force One to a military jet.
Haberman also said Trump’s White House has escalated pressure on the press, citing subpoenas against Times reporters and attacks that she said often target female journalists’ appearance and, in one case, a reporter’s children.
The book casts those episodes as part of a more secretive and personalized presidency, with access, information flow and crisis decisions concentrated around a small loyalist network.