New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman became a household name for her coverage of former President Donald Trump's time in the White House, breaking some of the most defining stories of his tenure there.
In fact, Haberman's access to the Trump administration has even generated controversy in itself, with some in media accusing her of practicing "access journalism" and hobnobbing with the likes of presumed sources like Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
So it's safe to say that few civilians knew the inner workings of the Trump administration in more detail than Haberman.
This week, Trump issued a bizarre statement, one of many criticizing the Biden administration for a botched withdrawal of American troops in Afghanistan.
NEW!\n\nPresident Donald J. Trump:\n\n"First you bring out all of the American citizens. Then you bring out ALL equipment. Then you bomb the bases into smithereens\u2014AND THEN YOU BRING OUT THE MILITARY. You don\u2019t do it in reverse order like Biden and our woke Generals did.pic.twitter.com/bWirCkgp5j— Liz Harrington (@Liz Harrington) 1629392394
Trump wrote:
"First you bring out all of the American citizens. Then you bring out ALL equipment. Then you bomb the bases into smithereens—AND THEN YOU BRING OUT THE MILITARY. You don't do it in reverse order like Biden and our woke Generals did.
No chaos, no death—they wouldn't even know we left!"
Haberman responded with a wry observation.
Starting to get the sense he didn\u2019t absorb a ton about the realities of the presidency while doing the jobpic.twitter.com/BXPE9cLSIM— Maggie Haberman (@Maggie Haberman) 1629398929
Like Haberman, people saw flaws in Trump's ideal sequence of events.
So we bomb the bases AND THEN get the military out? Also no one will notice any of this happening. Got it.https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1428428758038503426\u00a0\u2026— ^_^ (@^_^) 1629401128
Bomb the bases then order our military to leave the bases\u2026https://twitter.com/maggienyt/status/1428428758038503426\u00a0\u2026— James Holloway (@James Holloway) 1629405436
You bomb the bases to smithereens and THEN bring out the military?https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1428428758038503426\u00a0\u2026— Josh Dawsey (@Josh Dawsey) 1629399311
Wouldn\u2019t this sequence mean you bring out the military in smithereens?https://twitter.com/maggienyt/status/1428428758038503426\u00a0\u2026— southpaw (@southpaw) 1629399092
"Bomb the bases into smithereens" and "they wouldn't even know we left" in the same statementhttps://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1428428758038503426\u00a0\u2026— Allan Smith (@Allan Smith) 1629399004
He puts on his shoes every day like a normal person. Then he puts on his socks.https://twitter.com/maggienyt/status/1428428758038503426\u00a0\u2026— Sanho Tree (@Sanho Tree) 1629400793
The statement prompted a range of observations.
This is a good reminder of what happens when the know-it-all blowhard at the end of the bar gets put into a position of authority and has to deal with real problems. \n\nIf only the presidency was a contest in public rhetoric.https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1428428758038503426\u00a0\u2026— Matt Glassman (@Matt Glassman) 1629400906
This reads like it's describing one of those puzzles where you have a chicken, a fox, and some grain you have to move across the river in a canoe - only with much higher stakes...https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1428428758038503426\u00a0\u2026— Jake Williams (@Jake Williams) 1629399310
This last line sounds like gang vocals in a hardcore song.https://twitter.com/maggienyt/status/1428428758038503426\u00a0\u2026— Nick Parker (@Nick Parker) 1629437322
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