Trump slams NYT's Maggie Haberman for 'false' reporting on Elon Musk: 'She owes me a Pulitzer'

Donald Trump slammed The New York Times, Maggie Haberman, and CNN in Truth Social rants over their reporting on Elon Musk’s Pentagon visit
UPDATED MAR 22, 2025
Donald Trump slammed Maggie Haberman over her reporting on Elon Musk's Pentagon visit (Getty Images)
Donald Trump slammed Maggie Haberman over her reporting on Elon Musk's Pentagon visit (Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump said that The New York Times' White House correspondent Maggie Haberman "owes" him a Pulitzer Prize, insisting that her report on Elon Musk visiting the Pentagon for a potential discussion on China is "fake news."

Taking to his Truth Social on Thursday, March 20, the 78-year-old doubled down on his take that there is nothing to worry about Musk’s sensational visit to the Pentagon.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump (R), and his son X Musk, speaks during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump is to sign an executive order implementing the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE)
Elon Musk, accompanied by President Donald Trump, and his son X, speaks during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025, in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Donald Trump slams NYT's Maggie Haberman over article on Elon Musk's Pentagon visit

Taking to his Truth Social on Thursday, Donald Trump lashed out at the outlet for their reporting, and wrote, "The Fake News is at it again, this time the Failing New York Times. They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential 'war with China.' How ridiculous? China will not even be mentioned or discussed." 

He added, "How disgraceful it is that the discredited media can make up such lies. Anyway, the story is completely untrue!!!" He was referring to thee NYT piece titled, "Pentagon Set Up Briefing for Musk on Potential War With China."



 

After CNN reported the same on Friday morning, Trump did not hold back and gave a piece of his mind to the NYT, as he wrote on Truth Social, "Elon Musk will be briefed by the Pentagon about the USA’s top secret plans against China should there be a War, ' according to the Failing New York Times, one of the worst and most purposely inaccurate newspapers anywhere in the World."

Slamming the reporting, the commander-in-chief continued, "Their FAKE concept for this story is that because Elon does some business in China, that he is very conflicted and would immediately go to top Chinese officials and 'spill the beans.'"

He did not shy away when he called out CNN for propagating an allegedly "false story" about Musk’s meeting at the Pentagon.

"RATINGS CHALLENGED FAKE NEWS CNN immediately picked up on this ridiculous and false story, which is probably libelous, and went heavy with it," wrote Trump, before adding, "Fortunately, nobody was watching!"



 

Following his thorough criticism of NYT and CNN, he turned his attention to Maggie Haberman, as he said that she "owes" him her Pulitzer in journalism.

"Maggot Hagerman, the really dumb 'scammer' who constantly writes about me for the Times, using anonymous, made up (nonexistent!) sources, and who I haven’t spoken to in ages, is a big part of the Scam. She lead the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, only to realize that she was duped and got it wrong," Trump claimed.

He added, "She owes me a totally discredited Pulitzer Prize for her bad reporting. The Fake News is the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE…And Elon is NOT BEING BRIEFED ON ANYTHING CHINA BY THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR!!!"

Journalist Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for the New York Times, speaks at ‘Nobel Week Dialogue: the Future of Truth’ conference at at Svenska Massan on December 9, 2017, in Gothenburg, Sweden. (Photo by Julia Reinhart/ Getty Images)
Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for the New York Times, speaks at the ‘Nobel Week Dialogue: the Future of Truth’ conference at Svenska Massan on December 9, 2017, in Gothenburg, Sweden (Julia Reinhart/ Getty Images)

The NYT's story was also covered by the Wall Street Journal which seemingly confirmed the contents of the Tesla CEO’s meeting at the military headquarters. 

Per Raw Story, WSJ reported, "Musk is expected to be briefed on how US forces would fight in a potential China war, including maritime tactics and targeting plans, the officials said. China will be one of several topics to be discussed at the Defense Department, one of the officials said."

Donald Trump's long-standing feud with Maggie Haberman

This is, however, not the first time that Donald Trump and Maggie Haberman have butted heads. The journalist, who was hired by the NYT in 2015 to cover the 2016 presidential election, landed in Trump's bad books for her 2022 book, "Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America."

U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump is holding the first Cabinet meeting of his second term, joined by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on February 26, 2025, in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Not impressed by the book, Trump not only criticized her writing but also nicknamed her "Maggot." 

Later, he wrote a fiery criticism of her book, and wrote in Truth Social, "Here we go again! Another Fake book is out, this one, supposedly very boring and stale, by self appointed head case, Failing (unfunded liability!) New York Times writer, Maggie Hagerman," intentionally misspelling her name, per The Independent.

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