Maggie Haberman on What an Unleashed Trump Might Do

This week I published an audio essay about what I think is unique about Donald Trump as a personality and political figure and the dangers he poses if he gets a second term in the White House. But I wanted to go deeper on this topic with someone who knows him much better than I do. Maggie Haberman is a senior political correspondent for The New York Times and has traced his evolution over the decades in her 2022 book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.” In this conversation, we discuss what Haberman agreed and disagreed with in my essay, the forces that shaped Trump’s ideas of politics and power as a real estate developer in New York City, what she thinks he wants from a second term (including his desire for revenge), how his inner circle has changed since his time in office, what he might do if he loses and more. Note: This conversation was taped before Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly went on the record saying that Trump met the definition of a fascist and that the former president had told him, “You know, Hitler did some good things, too.” 00:00 Introduction 1:35 Signs of Trump's disinhibition and aging 6:22 Trump's rise in the GOP 8:38 How New York politics influenced Trump 16:15 What Trump wants 21:12 The Apprentice and the Presidency 24:00 Taking Trump at his word 27:43 Trump's inner circle 36:28 Trump and the Republican Party 43:04 Policy priorities 44:50 Revenge / Lawfare 48:00 Is he slowing down? 51:50 Election scenarios 58:53 Book Recommendations Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-.... This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” is produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris with Kate Sinclair. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota. Our supervising editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Rollin Hu, Elias Isquith and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Jack McCordick.