Trump rails against 'maggot' and 'flunky' NYT journalists as DOJ subpoenas newspaper over incendiary Air Force One report

By JOE HUTCHISON, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:53, 11 July 2026 | Updated: 20:59, 11 July 2026 President Donald Trump attacked two New York Times journalists on Saturday just a day after his justice department subpoenaed the newspaper of record's reporters.  The commander-in-chief went after White House correspondent Maggie Haberman and White House reporter Jonathan Swan in a rage-filled post to his Truth Social. Haberman and Swan authored 'Regime Change,' a book about the workings of the second Trump administration, which Trump has continued to bash since publication.  On Saturday, Trump referred to Haberman as 'maggot' and described Swan as a 'flunky' in his post.  He said: 'Maggot Hagerman has covered me incorrectly for ten years. Her book is a joke! 90% of it is Fake News. 'She has made a living off her bad reporting, and will pay the price when our Multi Billion Dollar Lawsuit against The Failing New York Times gets to Court, which should not be that long.  'I don’t mind bad press, if they are right. I do mind Fake Reporting, like what’s in her boring book, and like she’s done for eleven years, with only one aim in mind, to have Trump lose Elections but, as I sit in the Oval Office and ponder, that hasn’t worked out too well.  'Maggot is a loser! If she ever wrote the true story about me, it would actually be quite boring, but loaded with lots of SUCCESS.' Trump then said he 'just finished' a physical and cognitive test that he said he took at Walter Reed Medical Center.  Despite saying he had just finished taking the physical, the White House clarified to the Daily Mail that he was actually referencing testing he underwent in May.  Trump is seen here speaking during a press conference at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, earlier this week He continued: 'Few people in Washington, D.C., could do so, including Maggot and her flunky associate, Jonathan Swan.  'I would be willing to bet they couldn’t get 50% of the questions right. Anyway, don’t buy their book, it’s garbage!' His remarks about his own health came after Haberman questioned during an appearance on The Weekend Saturday, just hours before his post, why he was making so many trips to Walter Reed. She said: 'You hear from people the same as we do. His health is like a black box inside that administration, much more than almost any other issue. 'And if there is an area of failure in the reporting for us, it was this, in trying - not mental per se, but just his health - how he is, why he has gone to Walter Reed several times and they have released less and less information. 'We see what you see, which is, he is 80, which is that he is clearly, you know, doesn’t speak with the same crispness that he did 30 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago. As people who turn 80 tend not to.' After Trump posted on Truth Social, Swan said on X: 'Many people disagree with the president’s assessment. Thanks to you all for reading.'  Alongside his post he added an image showing that the book was top of Amazon's bestsellers list.   Trump has now made three publicly reported visits to Walter Reed since taking office for the second time. He had a physical in April 2025; another checkup, including a CT scan, last October; and the exam at the end of May. Maggie Haberman (C) attends the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on September 9, 2025, in Washington, DC Trump described reporter Jonathan Swan, seen here interviewing Trump in 2020, as a 'flunky' in his post to X, Swan responded that he would like to interview the president again Several issues have sparked concern during Trump's second term, including swelling in his legs, bruising on his hands, and several instances of appearing to briefly doze off in public. The swelling in the President's legs, the White House announced last summer, is due to a condition called chronic venous insufficiency, a relatively common circulatory problem in older people.  The administration has said that the bruising on Trump's hands, which he has at times tried to conceal, is due to regular aspirin usage and frequent handshakes, though bruising has appeared on both of the President's hands. All of this comes after the Department of Justice subpoenaed journalists for the Times after they reported on security concerns involving the new Qatar-gifted Air Force One. The new jet, a present from the U.S. ally that the administration spent $400 million on to retrofit and upgrade, entered service last week.  But Trump used an older model Air Force One jet to leave a NATO summit in Turkey and later referenced threats against him made by Iran. Trump has at times used makeup and bandages to conceal the bruising on his hand (pictured at the White House on May 6) Trump closes his eyes in the Oval Office on April 18 Trump waves as he switches planes at US Air Force Base, RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, Eastern England The Times reported that Trump departed on the older jet as a security precaution after being urged to do so by the Secret Service.  The outlet, citing numerous anonymous sources, said that the new plane lacks some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft which includes antimissile capabilities.  The subpoenas seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan next week, the Times said, adding that federal agents delivered some subpoenas to the reporters at their homes. The journalists subpoenaed included Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt, the Times reported. David McCraw, a lawyer for the Times, said: 'The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects.'  But a Justice Department spokesperson told the Times that 'reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.' 'We value and appreciate the important role that the press plays in this country, but D.O.J. also plays an important role to make sure that the people entrusted with our nation’s secrets do what they’re supposed to do with that information,' the spokeswoman, Emily Covington, said. Earlier this year, the Justice Department issued subpoenas seeking to compel testimony from reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. In both cases, the department later withdrew the subpoenas, though.