Maggie Haberman, the New York Times White House correspondent, said Tuesday that President Trump’s attacks on female reporters have become “much nastier” and “much more aggressive” during his second term compared to his first. Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on her podcast, Haberman noted a shift in how Trump targets women in the press corps.
“The attacks on female reporters have gotten much nastier and much more aggressive and much less just about being a keyboard warrior where he would do it on Twitter in term one,” Haberman told Amanpour on “The Ex Files” podcast.
Haberman herself has been a frequent target of Trump’s insults. The president has called her a “hag,” referred to her as “Maggot,” and made comments about her appearance over the years. She suggested that Trump’s attacks on female reporters serve as a distraction from substantive questions and accountability.
“A fight is actually the distraction that he is sometimes looking for,” she said, adding that she is “much more interested in having him answer questions.” But, she noted, getting Trump to answer questions has “gotten very, very hard.”
Recent incidents support Haberman’s assessment. At the White House Correspondents Association dinner in July, Trump took the stage after CNN’s Kaitlan Collins received an award for excellence in presidential news coverage under deadline pressure. Trump said the award “was all about me” and “fake,” then compared Collins to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and suggested she should “smile” more.
On Monday, CNN reporter Kristen Holmes asked Trump about his decision to pull back from U.S. and South Korea military drills. Trump called her “disrespectful” and a “fake reporter” for asking the question. The White House Rapid Response account on X then escalated, posting that Holmes’s children would be “sickened and embarrassed” by her question—a rare move invoking a journalist’s family during a political dispute.
CNN defended Holmes, calling her “one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House” and stating that she asked Trump a “tough, relevant, and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people.” The network added that “personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press.”
Trump’s pattern of targeting female reporters is not new. In 2016, he faced criticism over the Access Hollywood tape in which he made vulgar comments about women. During his second term, he told Bloomberg News White House correspondent Catherine Lucey “quiet, piggy” in November 2025 when she asked about emails referencing Jeffrey Epstein.
The International Women’s Media Foundation has condemned Trump’s “pattern of targeting and harassing women journalists,” stating that such attacks “are attempts to normalize the degradation of the press, diminishing the role of journalists and press freedom as the fourth estate of U.S. democracy.” The foundation also noted that the attacks serve as a diversion to prevent further questioning on topics of national importance.
Sources
- The Hill — Haberman’s CNN interview with Christiane Amanpour on “The Ex Files” podcast, her assessment of Trump’s escalating attacks on female reporters, and examples involving Kaitlan Collins and Kristen Holmes
- The Independent — Details of Trump’s attack on CNN’s Kristen Holmes on August 18, 2026, and the White House Rapid Response post invoking her children
- Yahoo News — Haberman’s personal experience being called a “hag” and “Maggot” by Trump
