Maggie Haberman Sources Reveal Trump Privately Wants National Abortion Ban — Gives Stunning Reason For Cutoff Date

New York Times correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman dropped the scoop that in private, former President Donald Trump favors a national ban on abortion — and favors a certain number of weeks as a cutoff for a stunning reason.

Trump appointed three of the nine Supreme Court justices — Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — more than any other president — and more than enough to swing the 6-3 decision that overturned Roe.

He is not shy about proudly reminding people of this. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have also not been shy about slamming Trump on the issue.

But Trump has tried to be cagey on the issue of a national ban, citing the political toxicity of such a move and attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) over his six-week ban in Florida.

Haberman — who is very well-sourced in Trump world after decades covering Trump dating back to his time in New York and developing sources after Trump’s plunge into presidential politics — broke the news that Trump favors a national ban on abortion at 16 weeks.

And in a new article by Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Trump sources gave a stunning reason for that particular cutoff:

Former President Donald J. Trump has told advisers and allies that he likes the idea of a 16-week national abortion ban with three exceptions, in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother, according to two people with direct knowledge of Mr. Trump’s deliberations.

Mr. Trump has studiously avoided taking a clear position on restrictions to abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned in the middle of 2022, galvanizing Democrats ahead of the midterm elections that year. He has said in private that he wants to wait until the Republican presidential primary contest is over to publicly discuss his views, because he doesn’t want to risk alienating social conservatives before he has secured the nomination, the two people said.

Mr. Trump has approached abortion transactionally since becoming a candidate in 2015, and his current private discussions reflect that same approach.

One thing Mr. Trump likes about a 16-week federal ban on abortions is that it’s a round number. “Know what I like about 16?” Mr. Trump told one of these people, who was given anonymity to describe a private conversation. “It’s even. It’s four months.”

As Haberman notes, the abortion issue is widely seen as the reason for a stunning string of Republican defeats, a fact of which she says Trump is acutely aware.