Maggie Haberman Explains Her Relationship with Trump: ‘He Wants the New York Times to Approve of Him’
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said former President Donald Trump has given her ample access to him because he seeks the approval of her publication.
During an event on Friday promoting her book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, Haberman writes Trump has said he views her as his “psychiatrist.”
She scoffed at the idea at the event and again on CNN Thursday night in an interview with Jake Tapper.
“He attacks you all the time even though he obviously wants and craves your respect so much,” Tapper said. “He says things like this about you at rallies.”
He aired footage of Trump at an event asking, “Who’s with “the New York Times? I hope it’s not Maggie Haberman or [Ashley] Parker because they’re not legit.”
In another clip, Trump stated, “They don’t know me. I haven’t seen her. I haven’t spoken to her in a year and a half.”
In yet more footage, Trump calls her “a third-rate reporter.”
“What do you make of that?” asked Tapper. “Because I think you and I both know, he really wants you to approve of him.”
“He wants the New York Times to approve of him,” she replied. “And I just happen to be the person who covers him more than other people at this paper. And I knew him before he was a candidate, so I think that’s part of it. But I really can’t overstate how much of the paper drives this.”
Watch above via CNN.
