Maggie Haberman Drops Pile Of Reasons to Worry Trump Could Use Military to ‘Seize Control’: ‘These Are Understandable Concerns’

CNN commentator, bestselling author, and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman rattled off a flurry of reasons people have “understandable concerns” about President Donald Trump using the military to “seize control” in upcoming elections.

Haberman has been on a months-long leave of absence while working on the book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” which is co-written by Jonathan Swan and comes out in June.

But as the drop date nears, you can expect to see a lot more of Haberman — on the air and elsewhere.

Recently, Haberman and Politico’s Alex Burns sat down with moderator Jeff Greenfield at the 92nd Street Y to talk politics and Trump.

In one exchange, Greenfield cryptically alluded to a 2020 conversation with an unidentified Supreme Court justice, a woman, in which the justice warned Trump would try to remain in power if he lost.

He asked Haberman if that same warning could apply to the midterms, and Haberman cited a litany of incidents since 2020 that make the concern much more credible:

POLITICAL ANALYST JEFF GREENFIELD: Allow me to descend into a little bit of conspiracy theory, and I do this only because I have a defense to do it. In 2020, I happened to be at a dinner where there was a Supreme Court justice. And she, narrowing it down, said in the middle of dinner, if Trump loses this election, he will not leave.

And my reaction was, come on, let’s not get into 24 scandal.

Well, the reason I mention this is a guy I talked to just yesterday, who is about as centered in politics and non-wacko, is absolutely convinced that Trump is going to somehow try to seize control of the midterms, even with military force.

Now, has he been smoking too much now-legal stuff, or is there among the people you know any kind of fear that, I can’t rule that out. I can say that won’t happen.

NY TIMES JOURNALIST MAGGIE HABERMAN: Look, I think that after, I’m sorry, when was this dinner with the person you won’t name? Who was the woman, what was the year?

POLITICAL ANALYST JEFF GREENFIELD: A Supreme Court justice.

NY TIMES JOURNALIST MAGGIE HABERMAN: No, but what you okay? I got that part. What what what year was this?

POLITICAL ANALYST JEFF GREENFIELD: 2020 right before the 2020 and she was saying if Trump loses the election, he’s not going to leave.

NY TIMES JOURNALIST MAGGIE HABERMAN: That’s why I was asking. Look, after January 6th, 2021, I think that… Part of what happened that day or part of the lack of readiness for what could happen that day was something of a failure of imagination.

What Mark Milley was thinking about, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, was that Trump was gonna do just what you just said. He was gonna seize the apparatus, he was going to mobilize the military against the Capitol, against whomever.

And instead it was a bunch of Trump fans who ran at the Capitol and were… Extremely disruptive and they did a lot of damage and some people died, but the process still went on and that was something that Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi and a couple of other people made sure happened.

But I will say that after January 6th, 2021, and after everything we saw over the last four years, which was the first ever former president indicted. Four times.

The first conviction of a former president.

An assassination attempt that was a near miss.

Another assassination attempt that was less of a close call then in September 2024.

So I think that ruling, I don’t think any of us– making predictions is a not a good idea.

Do I hear people who are concerned that Trump is going to use the military? Sure, because what you–. You have heard him talk about, openly, to my colleagues about how he should have seized the voting machines in 2020.

He has, as you said, the Save America Act, whatever name it has right now, would allow for very different procedures around who gets to vote.

Stephen Miller has obviously been quite enthusiastic about trying to show force in terms of crackdowns on protesters, or immigrants, you know.

And you have it–. President Trump said earlier this year that he thinks a town looks better, I’m paraphrasing, but that he think a town looks better with military people in it.

So these are all understandable concerns.

But do we have some kind of inside knowledge that is going to happen? No, I mean, sometimes people have to just wait and see what happens, and if they don’t want that thing to happen, they have to vote.

Watch above via the 92nd Street Y.

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