Jonathan Swan’s new book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” co-authored with New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, arrives tomorrow from Simon & Schuster with behind-the-scenes revelations about Trump’s second term, including previously unreported details about how the White House handled the Epstein files scandal.
The 496-page book, priced at $34, covers Trump’s first year back in office as an unconstrained leader operating on grievances and instincts. Early excerpts published by the New York Times have already sparked concern inside the Trump administration, with Vice President JD Vance expressing worry that the authors may have obtained audio recordings of sensitive Situation Room meetings.
According to reporting from the book, Trump’s top advisers—including Vance, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, and FBI director Kash Patel—gathered in multiple Situation Room meetings to strategize about containing the Epstein scandal engulfing the president. The book reveals that these officials struggled to manage the fallout from the leaked files, with some advocating for different approaches to the crisis.
Swan and Haberman conducted hundreds of interviews and obtained reporting on Trump’s major foreign policy decisions during his second term. The book includes an account of how Trump decided to take the United States to war with Iran, detailing conversations with advisers and his military leadership about the decision-making process.
The authors also document Trump’s personal behavior and statements in the White House. According to the book, Trump took evident pleasure when shown a document comparing him to authoritarian figures including Mao, Hitler, and Stalin. In interviews conducted in March for the project, Trump told the reporters “I was the hunted. And now I’m the hunter,” reflecting on his trajectory from his 2020 defeat to his 2024 return to power.
The book’s arrival has already generated anxiety in the White House. On June 14, Axios reported that top officials believed Haberman and Swan had obtained audio recordings of Situation Room conversations, a possibility that alarmed national security officials concerned about how sensitive discussions were documented and potentially leaked.
Haberman, who previously authored “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,” and Swan, a White House correspondent for the New York Times, conducted their reporting over an extended period. The book was first announced in April 2026 and has been the subject of intense speculation about what revelations it would contain.
Sources
- Simon & Schuster — publication date, title, price, page count, and description of the book’s scope
- The New York Times — excerpts revealing Situation Room meetings on Epstein files, Trump’s Iran war decision, Trump’s statements about dictators, and Trump’s “hunted to hunter” quote
- Axios — reporting on White House officials’ fears about potential Situation Room recordings in the book
- The Hill — Vice President Vance’s statement about concerns over leaked Situation Room tapes
- CNN — Trump’s comparison to Mao, Stalin, and Attila the Hun from the book
