Donald Trump had two separate grievances with The New York Times during the early hours of the morning. The president used Truth Social to challenge the newspaper’s reporting on unrelated subjects. One dispute involved a television interview he recently gave; the other concerned a sexual harassment settlement connected to his Bedminster golf club.
How C-SPAN and Alina Habba became subjects of Donald Trump’s complaints
Donald Trump’s first objection appeared at 1:25 a.m. on Truth Social. ET. He disputed a Times report that described his appearance on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal Prime Time as an apparently unannounced call. Trump insisted the interview was a “fully scheduled call.” The call had been arranged in advance through White House Communications and happened at “C-SPAN’s request.” Trump accused the newspaper of “lying” and misrepresenting the circumstances.
The interview itself lasted about eight minutes on Monday night. Host Mimi Geerges struggled to keep Trump focused as he wandered through his answers. The call also began with a woman giggling in the background on the president’s end. The woman was suspected to be Natalie Harp, a known White House aide (via The Daily Beast).
Trump took another swipe at the newspaper just before 2 a.m., shifting his attention to its reporting on Alina Habba. The former Trump lawyer now faces an ethics battle in New Jersey over a settlement tied to a waitress at his Bedminster golf club. Alice Bianco had accused a club manager of sexual harassment.
According to the complaint, Habba convinced Bianco, who was 21 at the time, to drop her attorney and take a $15,000 payout on terms that favored the club. Habba’s office also drafted a confidentiality agreement, even though New Jersey law limits the use of such deals in workplace harassment cases.
Trump objected on Truth Social that the Times report failed to clarify that he was not personally involved in the settlement. “What they fail to say is that it did not involve President Trump, a rather important omission,” Trump wrote. He also branded the coverage “FAKE NEWS!!!”
