Maggie Haberman Dismisses Notion of a Trump Coup: He Doesn’t Have the ‘Competence’ or ‘Ambition’ to Pull it Off

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman — undoubtedly the most-famed White House correspondent covering President Donald Trump’s administration — does not believe that the commander in chief is plotting a coup because, well, that kind of thing takes brain power, and effort.

Appearing on the Times’ podcast The Daily, Haberman said that while she understands concerns about the prospect of a coup, given Trump’s refusal to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden, she does not believe Trump possesses the intelligence or determination to pull it off.

“I think the belief that is a coup both gives this president too much credit for a level of competence in executing that kind of thing, and a level of ambition, candidly, that I don’t think he has,” Haberman said. “I think that he is making a bunch of moves at specific agencies like Department of Defense to install loyalists there for specific policy measures, like drawing down troops in Afghanistan. But I don’t think that it’s about trying to mobilize the military against Joe Biden in some way. I think this is much more about the end stages of a very, very convulsive presidency. But not about trying to continue it.”

In her report on Thursday night, Haberman wrote that not only is Trump not plotting a coup, he’s not plotting much of anything.

“There is no grand strategy at play, according to interviews with a half-dozen advisers and people close to the president,” Haberman wrote. “Mr. Trump is simply trying to survive from one news cycle to the next, seeing how far he can push his case against his defeat and ensure the continued support of his Republican base.”

Listen above via the Times’ podcast The Daily.