Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan...

 “deep background,” agreed to in advance, which meant we could use the information but not identify who gave it to us.

On March 16, 2026, the President sat with us for an hour in the Oval Office and answered our questions. We presented him with accounts of sensitive scenes and private dialogue, including his own interactions with foreign leaders, and he engaged at length—largely without disputing our reporting, though he pushed back on a few specific points. We then sent detailed follow-up emails to his staff that gave the White House extensive visibility into our reporting and every opportunity to respond.

No, I couldn't watch...Gabby

Prologue -  Fur stoles swept through the entrance of Mar-a-Lago. An unusual cold front was lowering temperatures into the high forties—enough, in Palm Beach, to justify the parade of mink and sable among the guests arriving to ring in 2026 with the President of the United States. They gathered first around the pool, then made their way along a black carpet, past a cascade of candles and string musicians serenading them as they entered the Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom. They had come to pay homage. And to party. When Trump arrived, the music switched from “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America” to Rossini’s “William Tell Overture,” made famous as the theme song of the 1950s TV show The Lone Ranger. Trump was in a jovial mood. In the past year—the first of his second term—he had put on a demonstration of raw executive power the country had not seen since the presidency of FDR. He entered the ballroom with Melania, who wore a shimmering silver sequined gown. When reporters asked for his New Year’s resolution, the President answered, with apparent earnestness: “Peace on earth.” The crowd of minor celebrities, ball gowns, lacquered faces, and almost unimaginable riches included a familiar crew of MAGA eminences: Eric and Lara Trump; White House advisors like Dan Scavino; the former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia; Rudy Giuliani, a ghost from a previous time, in a white dinner jacket. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security advisor, was there, too. Late in the evening, when the house band launched into a scorching cover of Pitbull’s “Fireball,” Rubio put on a show for whoever had their phones out, singing along and dancing in his chair. The display of revelry belied the fact that a major operation—known only to Trump and Rubio, and a few others in the room—was afoot. They had spent weeks planning what promised to be one of the most audacious American military operations in a generation—the seizure of the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro—and it was now days, possibly hours, from launching. Nearly three hundred miles away in Ponte Vedra Beach, Susie Wiles had arrived home after five days at Trump’s club. Her house had been recently outfitted with a SCIF—a secure space for handling classified information—so that Trump’s chief of staff could monitor the high-stakes mission from there. They had been forced to abort several times in the past week, on account of bad weather and Maduro’s unpredictable sleeping arrangements due to late-night partying. Vanilla Ice took the Mar-a-Lago stage, having taken a detour from his “I Love the 90’s” tour to entertain the crowd with the song that made him famous thirty-five years earlier. Stephen Miller, in a slim-cut tuxedo, mouthed along to the lyrics, looking stiff and faintly pained, as if caught doing something undignified. He was the architect of so much of what the first year had wrought—the man who forced through executive actions and emergency declarations at a speed that had stunned even some of Trump’s other officials, often with little regard for the trail of fallout. By contrast, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threw herself into “Ice Ice Baby” with relish, dancing for the cameras, arms pumping. Noem had come to exemplify something central to the Trump presidency: the idea that governing was, above all, a spectacle—a show of strength staged for an audience of one. Online, Noem’s critics had taken to calling her “ICE Barbie,” a reference to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which in Trump’s first year back in office had been transformed into one of the most richly funded law enforcement agencies on the planet. Noem would last another two months before Trump fired her. Seated beside the President at the head table was Todd Blanche, Trump’s personal lawyer turned deputy attorney general—a living symbol of the way the President had fused his own legal interests with the apparatus of federal law enforcement. Among the dignitaries present was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had come with his wife, Sara, to pay their respects. Netanyahu was Trump’s indispensable partner in the year’s most consequential foreign policy actions, but also a source of significant division and agitation within Trump’s inner circle and the broader MAGA movement. Netanyahu had two days earlier privately lobbied Trump for an even more dramatic military intervention that he hoped would remake the entire Middle East. For the highlight of the evening, Trump took the stage. He called for attention and then introduced a speed painter he described as one of the greatest living artists on earth. As the band slid into a drawn-out rendition of “Hallelujah,” the painter took up a position before a large black canvas and set to work furiously, a brush in each hand. Within ten minutes, the visage of Jesus Christ had appeared on the finished canvas. The artist lifted it off the easel and held it up for the crowd. Trump stepped back to the microphone. “I don’t know how you do that,” he said. Then, switching to the role of auctioneer, he opened the bidding at a hundred thousand dollars. “These people are loaded with cash, just so you know,” he explained to the painter. “Hussain?” Trump called out to the Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani, who obliged with $550,000. The price kept climbing. Mid-auction, Trump announced that he would sign the painting of Jesus Christ, thus increasing its value; and within minutes, the winners—a woman in a top hat and her husband all in black—joined the President and the speed painter onstage to claim their $2.75 million portrait of the Prince of Peace. Half the money would go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Trump declared, and half to the local sheriff’s department. As the winners claimed their prize, Trump pointed at the husband. “Get this guy’s number!” Earlier, Trump had used part of his remarks from the stage to pivot to a subject that seemed to come from nowhere. He alluded to a fraud scandal among Somali immigrants in Minnesota. “Can you imagine? They stole $18 billion. That’s just what we’re learning about,” he told the glittering room. “It was a giant scam.” Then, as if remembering his surroundings: 

“Other than that, we’re going to have a great year.” What almost nobody in the ballroom knew—what even some of Trump’s senior officials did not yet fully grasp—was how quickly the new year would test the swagger of the President. In just over forty-eight hours, the United States would seize Maduro, the leader of a sovereign nation, in a covert operation that was an undoubted triumph. But within weeks, federal agents in Minnesota would shoot dead two Americans in separate episodes that would shake the country and lay bare the human cost of the administration’s most aggressive domestic policies. And in less than two months, Trump would take America to war in the Middle East, breaking perhaps the most sacred covenant he had made with many of the voters who had helped return him to power. But all of that was still to come. On this night, in the ballroom that bore his name, the President behaved as though no force could touch him. He swayed occasionally with his familiar closed-fist moves as the First Lady bobbed almost imperceptibly beside him. The clock struck midnight. The crowd roared.

~~~~~~

Reading nonfiction books written by known Investigative Reporters is somewhat of an adventure, don't you think? I had met Maggie Haberman via MSNOW News, my main political reporting station, and found her credible. I knew to expect details and feel the emotional impact of what she and Jonathan would be writing. I did not expect just how revealing this book would be. My goal has been to talk about what is happening in today's world, at the same time spotlighting relevant books that support that goal. After reading approximately 25% of this book, I have decided, if all goes well, I will be breaking my discussion as I've done with other books, down into parts. Spreading them out to provide breaks of our reality with delight or poetry that will allow us to enjoy the world through the eyes of those who see as a true poet... We all need that type of break from reality. Now, more than ever.

You might think of my style as if I were leading a book club discussion. I have highlighted those points that made an impression on me. I wish I could say based upon logic... But this appears a tell-all story, more than anything else. A regurgitation of what many of us may have already heard about. But, when placed within the scenes of the action, proves to be much more revelatory. This is an administration that has purposely used news as a manipulative tool. Some news agencies strive to do sufficient research to ensure the complete picture of events, including Truth. Some do not. I  assume you all know that, if I didn't already know who Haberman was, I would not have bought the book. I'm looking for Truth. Preferably, God's Truth, including from His perspective... But that as we know is not possible in today's world...

Let us begin...

Introduction - Let's first think about the fact that this president was elected for two terms. However, they were split. For whatever reason, sufficient people chose to return a convicted felons to office. Most who vote republican had chosen to believe all that this man said.  He had always denied that he had actually lost the 2020 election. Truth revealed and confirmed over and over and over clarified that. But this known prevaricator, we have learned, never really stops lying. Perhaps it is psychological; perhaps it is a manipulative tool he once chose. What we do know is the destruction that has evolved from those lies. And many began to learn that on the first day he took office. For the second term.

First point you must acknowledge. This man had 4 years during which he fumed for not being elected for his second term immediately. Also, during that time, you will remember that he was charged in two major New York cases. One for hiding an affair. The other for being charged for what he had done which extended back years. It was determined that Donald J. Trump owed millions to the State of New York for fraud of various kinds. He lost both cases, under a Black AG female. That alone had been humiliating for such a man as he...

But he had always blamed others for his failures. So that if he ever did something right, completed a project, it was seen as something of a fluke. Especially after his primary lawyer at that time was charged and jailed. At least one of those books can be found in the archives. He has continued to share information on an ongoing basis.

Most importantly, DJT had time to review his first four years and identify each individual who had been part of his cabinet, by his choice or significant support from somebody he trusted. However, this was a man who had been placed into an entirely unique world, a federal government from which his family had received financial support while at the same time, refusing to follow laws about civil rights in operating new buildings. Many projects had gone into bankruptcy...Now, this man had access to billions/trillions (and debt). Second time around for the presidency, he made sure that he had loyalty as the prime reason for placing people on his cabinet. Few of those cabinet selections were actually approved by congress. We all watched news as each of those individuals began to work, some with absolutely no experience by which they would be qualified for the appointed job. That didn't seem to be a problem. Trump had already decided he would be making all the decisions himself...

On the other hand, Project 2025 had been, perhaps, prematurely published and distributed. On his first day, we saw Executive Orders he was signing--directly from the work predetermined within a book compiled by an organization outside of the government. And, some of those writers were now wanting positions within the administrative branch. Were their appointments actually Trump's choices? I wondered. We knew that former Fox employees were. Hegseth was a perfect example. "Somebody" thinking because he was formerly in the service, he would have the skill and experience to become Secretary of Defense!

The Introduction provides an overview of his opinions of those previously on his staff. Stephen Miller and Russell Vought had become two of his most critical enforcers, in his first term. Both had found ways to respond affirmatively to what Trump wanted to do. Or say... In his second term, they were given even more freedom. Miller has already been identified as possibly the mastermind or perhaps just the implementer of some of the most extraordinary acts now underway. He was once known to say that he had sufficient ideology--that nobody else needed any... His pressure to set ridiculous numbers for the ICE to actually remove immigrants from the U.S. is one that we have all watched as the masked staff went to work in many different violent ways, including murder for which nobody has been charged...

If none of you have already connected, my opinion is that the attack on Minnesota in particular is purely because the Governor dared to actually run against DJT for vice-president (with Kamala Harris). Given the rage and hate this man has which is now being seen in retribution, we, I believe, have a right to be fighting continuously to ensure TRUTH comes back in control in support of American citizens.

The outcome of that election shocked many of us... But, of course, there was no call for an investigation on what had happened. To me, age was irrelevant, they were both in the same age range. Biden had performed quietly fulfilling his pledges to us, infrastructure in particular... While now, this president has either stopped projects, claimed them as his own, or refusing to participate in celebrations of infrastructure at all. He chose NOT to allow a bridge built by Canada into the United States to be cooperatively used... Because of his fight with power control of that nation... How sad that people listened to his lies rather than researched and kept up with accomplishments. We are now living with that mistake.  Or, frankly, it could have been a DEI issue spotlighted by the present attempts to delete the Black and other cultures from our government and our nation... God created ALL people...

Regime Change begins with the obvious. Trump immediately used Biden as a manipulating tool to place blame on anything and everything. All that he had accomplished was either ignored or stopped. Money was removed for more personal needs by his president.

We might not be doing this if you’d stayed in the race, Joe,” Donald Trump said after the news cameras had been ushered out of the Oval Office. “You would’ve been a tougher opponent. They love you in Pennsylvania.” Eight days after the bizarre and rancorous election that would soon return him to power, the once and future President sat by a roaring fire with the incumbent President Joe Biden. This was a traditional show of comity and continuity between administrations. There had been no such meeting four years earlier after an election Trump would not concede and continued to claim he had won.

Trump continued to goad, ridicule... All the things that many today find entertaining, listening to comedians, or feeling those thoughts inside, enjoying somebody actually saying them in public...

But this was in the Federal Government! A place that was supposed to be above the entire nation in working to provide for each and every life of each and every human living here. We expected it to be run efficiently and without intrusion into our daily lives... Being assured that we have voted those we could trust to do that. WRONG! Biden did not respond to any of Trump's insults. That revealed the difference between these two men...

In the weeks ahead, Biden would look back at the brief display of civility in the Oval Office and feel hoodwinked. As Trump’s old patterns resumed, Biden sank into disbelief and dejection as he and his administration soon found themselves subject again to Trump’s daily abuse

And there it was in the first chapter what I knew had happened...

The guests would include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon founder (and Washington Post owner) Jeff Bezos, Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai of Google. Zuckerberg would pay a visit right before Thanksgiving, Cook and Bezos later in December. Some of the billionaires were in for a surprise, with special Trump-style entertainment planned. Often before meals started, the President-elect cued a rousing version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on his iPad, piped through the club’s sound system. Before dinner, Zuckerberg rose to his feet, hand on his heart. But this was no ordinary national anthem. Not only because Trump’s own reading of the Pledge of Allegiance had been spliced into the music, or because the recording ended in a chant of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” but because it was performed by the “J6 Prison Choir,” twenty men detained for their alleged involvement in the attack on the Capitol. Here was Trump’s pointed way of enlisting some of the country’s most powerful business leaders in his campaign to rehabilitate the rioters; to transform them into martyrs and patriots in service to his own holy cause, the 2020 election. It was also a way to force a master of the universe, who had cited his own principles to punish Trump for threatening the peaceful transfer of power, to tacitly acknowledge—or just give in to—the idea that he was right and Zuckerberg and the others were wrong; that he had won and they had lost. They could eat crow. Early in his new term, the President would exact a roughly $25 million payment from Meta for the indignity of having been banned on Facebook. Twitter had also banned Trump, but the company had since been bought and rebranded as X by Elon Musk, perhaps Trump’s most powerful ally. Given the option to allow Musk to settle the lawsuit without a payment, Trump indicated he wanted Musk to pay, too. The settlement was roughly $10 million. After the Mar-a-Lago dinner, Zuckerberg would speak by phone with Trump. He had smoothly distanced himself from his previous support for a pro-immigration group and had ended his company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies soon after his Florida visit. Jeff Bezos, too, sought out a warmer relationship with Trump. Still smarting over The Washington Post’s coverage over nearly a decade, Trump told Bezos: “This Washington Post is really unfair. You’ve got to take better care.” Bezos commiserated with Trump over their December dinner, indicating that he, too, was deeply frustrated with the Post, though for a different reason. In Trump’s telling, Bezos told him he had lost half his friends over the investment. Bezos would tell others that wasn’t quite right: He hadn’t lost friends, but people close to him had urged him to sell the newspaper. At first, Trump hadn’t believed Bezos when the billionaire told him that he couldn’t control the Post’s coverage. As proof, Bezos told Trump that the newspaper’s reporters would write negative stories about him, too. “He said they write stories about him. And I didn’t believe him the first time, first term. And I hated him for it,” Trump recalled. “And then I believed him.” At their dinner after the 2024 election, Bezos described the newspaper that had once brought down a President as his worst financial investment. “The people there are terrible,” he told Trump, complaining about the business side of a storied newsroom he had hoped to make profitable. “They don’t listen. My other companies, they listen.” 

Weeks later, Trump was still regaling visitors with stories of how the tech titans were now “kissing my ass.” “You would not believe the texts I got from these tech guys. I’ve got to show you,” he told some guests as he whipped out his iPhone one morning after Christmas. “Look at this. Here’s Zuckerberg.” Trump scrolled through the ingratiating messages he had received from Zuckerberg after their dinner the previous month. “This is a letter his kid wrote,” Trump added, pulling up for guests a photo of a grade-school child’s “letter to the President,” from one of Zuckerberg’s children, who wrote that they looked forward “to the golden age of America.” Trump pulled up another text. “Hold on, hold on. This one’s even better,” he preened. “Bezos.” One of the guests who viewed the Jeff Bezos text messages recalled a greeting from Bezos, with a smiling selfie of himself and his then-fiancée, Lauren Sánchez. Later that day, Trump returned to these trophies in a conversation with others, including Elon Musk, who recently had been tapped to lead a cost-cutting pseudo-agency named the Department of Government Efficiency. “Think about where these guys were in 2016,” Trump said of Zuckerberg and Bezos. “They hated me. They were doing everything they could to knock me down. And look at them now.” As he boasted to Musk about the texts from Zuckerberg and Bezos, the world’s richest man seemed delighted in the humiliation of his rivals. “First-class groveling,” Musk called it.

A personal note: Note that my host and owner of Google was not mentioned in relation to the money exchange activities demanded by DJT.

And, I confirmed that our Social Sites had been bought... My and your freedom of speech would be denied, watched, monitored, and shared... Possibly even hacked...  Check out my posts to show just how that is happening... And, I might add, not even AI, which is programmed to speak truth and logic, can be trusted with power-hungry leaders. Their work can always be deleted... Or used against the individual seeking help from AI... Sad to say, I have proof... see last few posts on both blogs, where an excerpt from a chat on Facebook was used by META to prevent contact.

To be Continued...

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