President Donald Trump has a pick for White House counsel: Will Scharf, who has been serving as White House staff secretary since 2025. And according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, Scharf has his work cut out for him — as Trump has a history of being "very hard" on his White House counsels.
During a Monday morning, August 10 appearance on journalist Peter Alexander's new show on MS NOW, Haberman noted that Scharf is very much a Trump loyalist. But she also argued that he could run into problems as White House counsel because he "has limits on what he will do."
Along with journalist Jonathan Swan, Haberman wrote the 2026 book "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump" — which takes an in-depth look at Trump's second presidency. During her appearances on MS NOW and CNN, Haberman has been stressing that Trump is much more brazen during his second presidency than he was during his first."
Talking to Alexander, Haberman emphasized that although Scharf is on board with Trump more often than not, his willingness to buck the president on occasion could prove problematic for him.
When Alexander described Scharf as an "ultimate loyalist" to Trump, Haberman responded, "He is, but he also has some limits, Peter, on what he will do. One of the things we wrote about in the book, Jonathan and I did, is two issues where Will Scharf drew a line over the course of the last year and a half — where he got concerned about what could entangle this administration in legal fights that they might not be prepared for. One was about when to invoke the Insurrection Act, which is, you know, a loaded weapon on the shelf, as is the idea of suspending habeas corpus rights for undocumented migrants."
Haberman continued, "You know, the right to due process under habeas corpus is an idea that predates the Magna Carta. It's enshrined in the Constitution. The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld it very broadly. There was an episode that we wrote about where the president and (Trump White House adviser) Stephen Miller were really aggressively discussing, possibly just broadly, suspending these rights. But in general, Will Scharf is, as you say, he is somebody who generally believes in pretty expansive executive power. He was part of the president's team that fought for the immunity ruling at the Supreme Court, which has allowed President Trump, in President Trump's mind, to plow through all kinds of limits this term."
Appointed to White House counsel, effective September 1, Scharf replaces Trump ally David Warrington — who is returning to the private sector. Scharf has been a strong supporter of Trump's proposed White House ballroom, helping secure approval for the $400 million project.