‘Sir, How Are You So Handsome?’ Maggie Haberman Roasts Trump’s Adoring White House Press Pool

The New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman said the media covering President Donald Trump is littered with fawning pro-MAGA influencers who would rather praise the president than ask him a tough question.

Haberman ripped many of her colleagues during a Monday interview on The Media Confidential podcast. Haberman said the Trump administration has neutered the coverage by yanking control of the press pool away from the White House Correspondents’ Association last year — a move she claimed has spurred an influx of Trump suck-ups covering the president.

“It used to be that when it was groups of reporters covering the president, they would be able to have each other’s back. If somebody asked a tough question, you would know that the person next to you is going to follow it up or ask a version of it,” she said.

She continued, “Now it’s you ask a tough question, a rigorous question, and the president filibusters for four minutes and then the next question is, ‘Sir, how are you so handsome?’ from one of these influencers, or ‘Sir, is it hard that the media is so unfair to you?’ And that is very much by this White House’s design.”

Haberman said the new-look press pool has become a “massive challenge” to those whom she deems real journalists.

“It’s to everybody’s detriment, because many people rely on us for this coverage and he’s doing very few real sit-down interviews and press conferences,” she said.

Beyond taking control of the press pool, the White House introduced a “new media” seat in the press briefing room in 2025; the spot has went to a rotating cast of mostly conservative reporters, podcasters, and influencers since then.

Haberman added it was “quite different” from the coverage other presidents like Joe Biden received, who was grilled in the early days of his term on what flavor of ice cream he likes.

Her interview comes as she and colleague Jonathan Swan have been on a long media tour promoting their new book on Trump’s return to the White House.

Watch above.

Jason Cohen contributed to this story. 

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