Veteran journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan disclosed new details about the highly centralized operation of the second Donald Trump administration during an interview with PBS News Hour broadcast on July 2, 2026.
The reporting duo highlighted drastic structural changes, contrasting the current tight-knit decision-making process against the frequent internal friction that characterized Trump's first term.
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Secrecy and Limited Access
According to the authors, the administrative shift significantly limits information flow across federal agencies.
Top officials at the Pentagon, the State Department, and the CIA are frequently unaware of impending directives.
Haberman emphasized that the level of deep internal access achieved for their book stands out because the current White House maintains an exceptionally high level of secrecy compared to the previous administration.
"It is really hard to get the level of detail that we got," said Haberman, co-author of "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump."
The author noted that verifying individual scenes required exhaustive cross-checking, as the operational landscape bears little resemblance to Trump's initial four years in Washington.
A Tiny Circle of Decision-Makers
According to the reporters, a tiny circle consisting of roughly six individuals now coordinates directly with Trump to establish administrative policy.
"But it is a tiny, tiny group of people who are all around Trump," Haberman said.
The authors documented instances where internal figures pushed extreme policy proposals, including discussions surrounding the potential suspension of habeas corpus.
