Haberman says – Maggie Haberman, speaking on CNN’s “The Source With Kaitlan Collins,” said President Donald Trump’s latest abrupt reversal on a major housing bill fits a pattern of trusting “gut instinct” more than advisers or polling—and she questioned whether he believes he
When President Donald Trump abruptly canceled the signing of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act—an effort aimed at tackling the national housing affordability crisis—Maggie Haberman didn’t frame it as ordinary political turbulence. She framed it as something stranger: behavior that doesn’t sound like a president expecting consequences.
Haberman. a New York Times reporter and White House correspondent. made that point Wednesday during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source With Kaitlan Collins.” She joined her colleague Jonathan Swan to discuss their new book. “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.” During the conversation. host Kaitlan Collins read aloud an excerpt from the book.
The passage described a Trump who. if he cared about polling at all. was now “seeing far fewer polls than during his first term.” It also said Trump’s advisors knew he was not receptive to being briefed on harsh realities. And it drew a sharp contrast between his first and second terms. saying that in his second presidency he was willing to take “breathtaking risks”—risks that. the book excerpt suggested. could throw not only his presidency but the Republican Party and “the entire world into chaos and carnage.”.
Collins pressed Haberman on what that means now, asking whether it was the same “gut instinct” approach operating in the present and whether it matters if that instinct hurts Republicans running for office.
“Yes, I do think that what we are seeing right now is very in line,” Haberman replied. She said it resembles term one “in terms of… being erratic. ” but also said it was “definitely consistent with trusting his gut more than ever.” Then she went further. connecting the idea of erratic decision-making to a question that hung over the entire exchange: whether Trump believes there are real stakes for him personally.
Haberman pointed to the housing bill cancellation as an example of a president who didn’t appear to care about the outcome. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. which is described as a landmark bipartisan housing affordability bill. had been meant to move forward. Instead. Trump demanded that Congress first pass the radical SAVE America Act—an approach he has been championing—before he would sign the housing legislation. Haberman said that SAVE America Act would require American voters to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.
Her assessment of the pivot was blunt: bipartisan backlash followed because the president “just wasn’t interested.” Haberman said. “The president just wasn’t interested. ” adding. “So does the president care?. He’s not behaving like somebody who cares. Maybe he will start to at some point, but he is not right now.”.
That led to her most pointed doubt about Trump’s psychology. “And I’m not sure whether he particularly believes he will suffer consequences,” Haberman said.
Earlier in the interview. Haberman had described how she and Swan obtained “some confidential polling memos inside the Trump team.” One memo. she said. was from December. when Trump’s own pollster circulated it. Haberman tied the memo to a moment after Trump delivered an affordability speech—“or what was supposed to be an affordability speech”—when he called affordability a “con job.” She said Trump began suggesting that Democrats were responsible for the term and that it wasn’t fair to him.
In Haberman’s telling. the confidential polling memo argued that if the White House and the GOP wanted to make gains in the midterms and not suffer. they needed to be “honest” with voters about the affordability crisis and find a way to deal with it. Haberman said the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act was “supposed to deal with that.”.
The sequence of facts—fewer polls than in his first term. advisers warning about his limited receptiveness. an approach grounded in “pure gut instinct. ” and then a housing-bill reversal tied to a demand for the SAVE America Act—made the tension in Haberman’s argument feel immediate. The book excerpt laid out the risk; the cancelled signing gave it a live, political shape.
And for Haberman, the most consequential question wasn’t whether Trump is acting erratically. It was whether he believes that erratic behavior will come back to punish him.
Maggie Haberman Donald Trump 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act SAVE America Act housing affordability polling memos Regime Change Imperial Presidency Kaitlan Collins CNN United States politics