A New York Times reporter who covers the White House alleged Monday that President Donald Trump is “abusive” to everyone around him, including his family, but especially toward his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
The comments came on CNN’s “New Day."
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman — one of the most well-connected reporters covering the Trump administration and to whom Trump has given massive amounts of access — said Trump’s particular abuse of Cohen raises the question of whether he might turn against Trump.
“He is abusive — according to almost everyone I speak to — to most people in his orbit, and family is not accepted (sic) from the that,” Haberman explained.
“But he is particularly abusive to Cohen over the years, and the question becomes, ‘Does that come back to haunt him?’” she added.
Haberman was responding to harsh criticism from Trump over the weekend, who blasted her as "a Crooked H flunkie” and “a drunk/drugged up loser.” Trump was reportedly upset over a recent story she wrote that reported discord between the president and his lawyer.
“The story was really not about the president destroying their relationship. The president has destroyed their relationship pretty handedly on his own … and that is what the story was about,” Haberman said.
The U.S. attorney’s office of the Southern District of New York is currently investigating Cohen for reported campaign finance violations and several types of fraud. The investigation is “hitting a nerve” with the president, Haberman said, explaining it is more of an “imminent threat” to Trump than special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
.@MaggieNYT responds to President Trump's attacks on her from over the weekend: Michael Cohen's criminal probe "is hitting a nerve with him" pic.twitter.com/sjyAesehDV
— New Day (@NewDay) April 23, 2018
