President Trump lashed out at Democrats and members of the left-leaning media, calling them “stupid,” one day after his administration subpoenaed several New York Times journalists who had reported on security-related capabilities tied to the new Air Force One.
Speaking from his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, Trump took aim at what he called the “Failing New York Times,” singling out prominent reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, who are promoting their book “Regime Change,” which examines internal tensions and conflict.
Trump repeatedly mocked Haberman by referring to her as “maggot” and described her as “one of the most unattractive people in the News ‘Business.’” He also dismissed Swan, 40, as her “lightweight assistant.”
The president accused the newspaper of devoting “all of its energy” to negative coverage of him, though he did not directly address the Air Force One report in his remarks. Neither Haberman nor Swan was credited on that story, which reported that Trump switched back to the older Air Force One after flying on the Qatar-gifted Boeing 747 that underwent a $400 million refurbishment.
Trump also used the remarks to celebrate his 2024 election victory, deride Democrats as the “Dumocrat Party,” and criticize several television news outlets.
“All of their Readership, Ratings, and Viewership, are ‘tanking’ because the Public understands they are, as I have said right from the beginning, ‘FAKE NEWS!’” Trump wrote. “They have no credibility, or it would have been impossible for me to win with only bad stories, especially in a Historic Landslide.”
The president further accused the Democratic Party of “going communist,” escalating his criticism of the opposition party.
“They are going COMMUNIST because they are a desperately ‘sinking ship,’ and there’s not a thing they can do about it,” he wrote. “Instead of writing inaccurate, false articles, for over 10 years now, shouldn’t it be time that they say, ‘We give up, we can’t beat him, there seems nothing we can do.’”
The Times lawyers blasted the subpoena, which orders reporters to testify to a grand jury in Manhattan Wednesday.
Stephen J. Adler, chairman of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, blasted the move in a statement, saying it “crushed” the public’s right to know about its government.
