New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman comes to Coral Gables Saturday to discuss “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” the bestselling account of President Donald Trump’s second term that she wrote with fellow Times correspondent Jonathan Swan.
Haberman will appear at Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ in a Books & Books event moderated by Coral Gables resident, CNN commentator and “The View” co-host Ana Navarro. The conversation begins at 5 p.m.
Two reporters with years inside Trump’s orbit
Haberman and Swan have both covered Trump extensively for more than a decade.
Haberman joined The New York Times in 2015 after working at the New York Post, New York Daily News and Politico. She was part of the Times team that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on investigations into Trump advisers and their connections to Russia, and later was part of Pulitzer finalist teams for coverage of the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Her 2022 book, “Confidence Man,” examined Trump’s life, rise and first presidency.
Swan, an Australian-born White House correspondent who became a U.S. citizen in 2024, previously worked for Axios and The Hill. His 2020 televised interview with Trump won an Emmy, and he later received the White House Correspondents’ Association’s Aldo Beckman Award.
The authors have said “Regime Change” grew out of more than 1,000 interviews. It was published June 23 by Simon & Schuster and debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list. The publisher said the book sold more than 300,000 copies in its first week across formats, the strongest opening-week performance for a hardcover nonfiction title in 2026 at that point.
What the book argues
“Regime Change” covers roughly the first 14 months of Trump’s second presidency and advances a central argument: that his return to office produced a substantially different presidency from his first term, with Trump more willing to use executive power and surrounded by fewer advisers inclined to restrain him.
The title comes from the authors’ contention that they were documenting something American journalists more often describe in foreign capitals — a change in the nature of the governing system itself. Swan has said the phrase refers to Trump using presidential authority in ways the authors believe differ sharply from previous administrations.
The book takes readers inside deliberations over military action in the Middle East, immigration enforcement, the use of the National Guard, the Justice Department and other major decisions of Trump’s second term. It also examines how Trump’s four years out of office, his legal battles and the political movement built around his return affected the way he approached power after taking office again. Those are the authors’ findings and interpretations, drawn from interviews with administration officials and others close to the president.
A bestseller that Trump disputes
The book drew strong reviews after its June release. Simon & Schuster highlights a review by New Yorker editor David Remnick calling it “exceptional” and praising the reporting, while other reviewers have focused on the level of detail Haberman and Swan obtained from inside the administration.
Trump has rejected the book’s account.
In a June post on Truth Social, he called it “mostly made up, Fake News, largely fiction” and attacked Haberman personally. Trump participated in interviews with the authors for the book but has disputed their portrayal of his presidency and some of the details they reported.
Navarro moderates
Navarro brings her own long history in Republican politics to Saturday’s conversation.
Born in Nicaragua and raised in South Florida, she is a Republican political strategist who served as national Hispanic co-chair of John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and worked on Jon Huntsman’s 2012 campaign. She remains a registered Republican while also becoming one of Trump’s prominent Republican critics. Navarro is a senior political commentator for CNN and has been a co-host of ABC’s “The View” since 2022.
If you go…
Maggie Haberman appears in conversation with Ana Navarro at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ, 3010 De Soto Blvd.
Tickets are required. A book ticket admits two guests and includes one copy of “Regime Change,” with books distributed at the door. A limited number of free single-admission tickets are also available without a book, and additional copies will be sold at the event. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.
