Full Breakdown
Trump’s Second Term Described as “Regime Change” in New Book
8/19/2026, 10:40:33 PM
Core Revelations from *Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump*
On August 18, 2026, Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Maggie Haberman appeared on *Democracy Now* to promote the forthcoming book, co-authored with New York Times correspondent Jonathan Swan. The work characterizes President Donald Trump’s second term as a “form of regime change” that reimagines the U.S.
Haberman details two focal episodes:
- Epstein-file management – Senior officials—including the vice president, attorney general, FBI director, and White House counsel—convened in the Situation Room to treat the controversy as a crisis-communications operation rather than a criminal investigation. The president himself was not present, but his team directed what information would be released and how to handle Ghislaine Maxwell.
- Iranian regime-change plan – In a separate Situation-Room meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a video of potential Iranian successors and argued that the Iranian government was “fairly easy to topple.” According to Haberman, Trump approved the concept with a brief “Sounds good to me,” while ignoring dissenting advice from his own advisers.
Background & Context
Haberman argues that the second term differs sharply from Trump’s first because institutional checks—particularly the independence of the Department of Justice—have been eroded. The book notes that Attorney General Todd Blanche, then deputy attorney general, was tasked with the Epstein files precisely because he was perceived as more pliable than a career-lawyer. The authors contend that this reflects a broader pattern of using emergency declarations and executive orders to reshape policy areas ranging from immigration to trade.
Data & Statistics
- The manuscript is slated for release on June 23, 2026 (a deadline in the source ledger).
- Early sales reports label the book an “instant New York Times bestseller,” though no specific circulation figures are provided.
Official Statements & Responses
Haberman’s on-air commentary provides the primary narrative:
- She emphasizes that the president’s team, not the president himself, ran the “crisis comms hub” for the Epstein issue.
- She underscores the minimal size of the decision-making circle, quoting the “half-dozen people” description.
Literary critic Mark Danner, reviewing the book in *The New York Review of Books*, echoes Haberman’s assessment, describing Trump as a president with “a vast appetite for power” who has leveraged emergency powers to “reshape the government” across multiple domains.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
The book’s account of internal Situation-Room meetings relies on insider testimony and has not been independently corroborated by official records or other media investigations. No alternative descriptions of the meetings have been published, leaving a verification gap.
Verbatim Quotes
- “It is also what became essentially a crisis comms hub for the Trump team — not the president, he was not in these meetings, but his team — trying to deal with the general issue of the Epstein files,” — Maggie Haberman, pulitzer prize-winning journalist
- “This is a government run by … about a half-dozen people, give or take,” — Maggie Haberman, pulitzer prize-winning journalist
