White House hits the panic button over NYT reporters' new book

U.S. President Donald Trump attends a press briefing at the White House, following the Supreme Court's ruling that Trump had exceeded his authority when he imposed tariffs, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 20, 2026. REUTERS

The new book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan is set for release and has the White House "extremely worried."

According to Axios reporter Alex Thompson, some of the reports in the book are so detailed and quoted verbatim that the White House fears someone is recording conversations, even in the Situation Room, which is so secure that even cell phones aren't allowed inside.

One of those excerpts includes a conversation with Vice President JD Vance, who told top officials in the administration that it was time to invoke the Insurrection Act after the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good.

"It would be painful in the short term, he said, but the message it would send —that paid agitators could not get away with disrupting ICE operations — would make sure no one tried it again," said the report. It also noted that there is no evidence that paid protesters were involved, and certainly no evidence that Pretti and Good were paid by anyone.

Thompson told CNN on Monday morning that the book isn't merely poised to disrupt the administration, but JD Vance's political ambitions as well.

"There have been in these early excerpts, Mr. Vance has been portrayed in some ways, as conspiratorial and as you as you suggested, he's aligned himself with Stephen Miller, one of the most controversial members of this administration, one of the most hard line and and was advocating, in some cases for deploying the Insurrection Act, which the inside the White House, even some of the most firebrand like very conservative members were saying this is just blatantly unconstitutional," said Thompson.

He also noted another scene in which Miller argued "we haven't tested the limits of the Insurrection Act." He had to be fact-checked because he didn't know that it was used as recently as 1992, after the police who beat Rodney King were let off without consequences for his death.

"The fact that JD has aligned himself with the most controversial members could be a liability going into 2028. It's why so many members of the Trump administration are desperate to get their hands on this book early, before it comes out next week, because they don't know what's in it or how it could affect their own political standing," said Thompson.

CNN host John Berman asked Thompson if the White House appeared nervous and Thompson agreed, "Oh yeah, absolutely."

"I mean, you had reports that some of the quotes in this book are so verbatim that there's even speculation inside the White House that Maggie and Jonathan have got their hands on recordings, not just from inside the room, but inside the national security rooms, which — you are not allowed to bring recording devices into those rooms. That's how worried they are about this book and how explosive it could be in terms of disrupting not just this white house, but to 2028."

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