New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said on Friday that the first big rift between President Donald Trump and his MAGA base occurred last year, when he lobbied against the release of Justice Department files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — his former acquaintance.
Haberman made her case during a discussion at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, saying Trump lost an enormous amount of trust by promising voters he would expose corruption in Washington, D.C., only to dismiss their interest in his past ties to Epstein.
“And that was the moment, by the way, last year, with how Trump handled Epstein and the files,” Haberman said Friday. “That was when, according to his own top allies and advisers, that was when they could start seeing his own base stop believing him quite as much.”
The “Regime Change” author continued, “It was the first time that [fellow New York Times reporter and co-author] Jonathan [Swan] and I could recall, and we’ve read about this, Trump saying, ‘Believe me, not what you’re hearing over there’ — and it didn’t work.”
In 2018, Epstein was found dead in his cell while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death, ruled a suicide, and known ties to prominent people fueled theories of a “client list,” which then-Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed in February 2025 to release.
She later said her words about the list were misconstrued. Bondi also reportedly told Trump in May 2025 that his name is all over the files.
Trump began to repeatedly decry public interest in the case, calling it a “hoax,” but signed legislation in November of last year to release the remaining files amid enormous bipartisan pressure.
Trump’s DOJ barely met the legally mandated deadline to release the files, which ultimately arrived, but with numerous redactions. This eventually sparked the break between Trump and former core supporters — he called ex-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) a “traitor” for demanding transparency.
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Haberman said Friday that the president’s handling of the case was one scandal too many, and that he campaigned on promises to boost the economy, keep America out of foreign entanglements and “drain the swamp” — only to falter on all three.
“If you tell people you run on [these promises] … and you break all three — yes, voters can tell,” said Haberman. “And you not only break all three — you build monuments to yourself. You are building something that is literally called the Arc de Trump.”
Trump’s vanity projects include an exorbitant new White House ballroom and the aforementioned triumphal arch, despite disastrous approval ratings that many believe could spell doom for the Republican Party in the upcoming midterms.