New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman shared her perspective on journalism during the kick-off of Student Union’s 2019-2020 Trending Topics Series in Graham Chapel, Sept. 4.

During the event, co-sponsored by the Washington University Political Review (WUPR), Haberman delved into her coverage of President Trump, the tabloid beginnings of her journalism career and how reporting has morphed in the era of Trump.

Beth Wiesinger | Student Life

New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman answers questions from Washington University Political Review members as part of Student Union’s Trending Topics series. This series aims to highlight important national figures. In Haberman’s speech, she reflected on her working relationship with President Donald Trump.

Haberman, known for her unparalleled access to Trump and his sphere, won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Trump administration. According to one of WUPR’s co-editor-in-chiefs, senior Sophie Attie, this perspective is what encouraged WUPR to invite Haberman to speak.

“All the experience she has in journalism, particularly her relation to Trump, which she talked about extensively, is unique,” Attie said.

WUPR staff editor senior Max Lichtenstein was interested by the fact that “she has followed him his entire career,” referring to Haberman’s New York Post and New York Daily News coverage of Trump’s tycoon days in the 2000’s.

“She’s covering the White House in a very exciting time to be covering the White House,” Lichtenstein said.

Haberman opened by discussing the beginnings of her career, her working relationship with Trump and how she grapples with the increasingly hostile atmosphere towards journalists, among other topics.

Haberman, the daughter of a Pulitzer-prize winning NYT journalist, cut her teeth with Big Apple tabloids, the New York Post and the New York Daily News. While at the Post, she covered intensely personal stories, which included interviewing family members of those killed in freak events like bus crashes. She recalls once having to inform a woman that her sister had just died in a subway assault.

“There was always something macabre about covering those kinds of events,” Haberman said.
“I tried to outwork my competitors and colleagues, taking calls from sources at all times of the night.”

Haberrman’s first interaction with Trump came in 2011, after moving to Politico. Roger Stone, a political consultant and longtime Trump ally, told Haberman that he was advising Trump about a potential 2012 presidential run. After publishing the interview, Haberman received a call from Trump, where he forcibly denied that Stone was representing him or his campaign.

In 2015, Haberman’s connections paid off when a Trump advisor asked her to break the news that Trump was announcing his candidacy. However, Haberman demurred, citing Trump’s previous flirtations with running in 2012, 2001 and 1987. She looks back on the decision as a regrettable teaching moment.

“This time my gut was not particularly instructive or helpful, but I learned from it,” Haberman said.

After the campaign kicked off, Haberman said she was one of the few reporters at the Times to appreciate the potential of Trump’s candidacy; she described a newsroom conflicted over whether Trump’s nascent campaign merited coverage, even after he had led the polls for several months.

“Before [he won the nomination], when he was leading in the polls, there was an assumption that it was a sugar high,” Haberman said. “I think it’s important for newsrooms to cover the race as it is, not as it should be.”

Haberman detailed the first time she incurred Trump’s wrath; after reporting his ambivalent response to a campaign trail question about a Muslim registry, Trump tweeted angrily about Haberman and “obliterated her Twitter mentions.”

Haberman spoke at length about Trump’s demonization of the media, urging that reporters not let Trump’s trampling of press norms affect their work.

“As the president tries to paint us as the opposition party, it’s important that we not allow that mindset to take hold,” Haberman said. “Because we are not.”

At the conclusion of her talk, Haberman took prepared questions from WUPR and SU, before answering audience questions.

Sophomore Fadel Alkilani was “satisfied” to hear Haberman describe her working relationship with the President.

“She’s sensitive to the fact that her relationship with Donald Trump is a lot more professional than it seems,” Alkilani said.

Haberman has been accused by the left of giving some administration stories a friendly framing in order to curry favor with Trump.

Haberman said it is unlikely she will cover Trump’s reelection bid, saying her position is supposed to be a “burnout assignment.” After an audience member asked what she would be most excited to cover should Trump exit public life, Haberman mentioned the opioid crisis.

But despite braving a weekly gauntlet of deadlines and presidential invective, there is no doubt that Haberman still loves her job. Asked by Student Life after the event what she will miss about covering the president, Haberman said, “the adrenaline.”