NY Times reporter on access to Situation Room tapes: ‘We’re not going to comment’

Media NY Times reporter on access to Situation Room tapes: ‘We’re not going to comment’ Comments: by Max Rego - 06/23/26 1:27 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Max Rego - 06/23/26 1:27 PM ET Comments: Link copied

NOW PLAYING

New York Times reporters Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman on Monday declined to comment on whether they had access to audio tapes from the Situation Room for their book about President Trump’s second term.

“We’re not going to comment on the tapes,” Swan, sitting next to Haberman, told MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell on “The Last Word.”

An excerpt released from the book, titled “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” reports that Vice President JD Vance told Cabinet officials to release all of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

The excerpt includes direct quotes from Vance, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and White House communications director Steven Cheung.

An April report from Swan and Haberman also detailed Trump’s discussions in multiple meetings inside the Situation Room ahead of his decision to launch the war with Iran.

Last week, Vance expressed concern about the possibility of someone leaking audio tapes of Situation Room conservations to the reporters.

“There’s always an element of truth. There’s always an element of nontruth, but there were certain things in there that legitimately made me worried that people were… taping,” Vance said on SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show.”

While speaking to O’Donnell, Swan noted no administration officials have denied he and Haberman’s reporting for the book, which came out on Tuesday.

Haberman later said the two are “not going to discuss sourcing” for the book. But the veteran journalist added that she and Swan “worked really hard” to ensure their account of the second Trump administration was accurate.

“To have the only comment we have had from the White House so far be, ‘This is… accurate reporting,’ we agree,” Haberman added.