Trump attacks Maggie Haberman, claims he “aced” cognitive test at Walter Reed

Trump called the New York Times reporter a “loser” and urged followers not to buy her upcoming book while touting his latest physical exam results.

First Published: July 11, 2026, 12:34 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump launched a blistering attack on New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, calling her a “loser” and claiming he aced a cognitive test at Walter Reed on a Truth Social post on July 11, 2026, at 12:23 PM EST.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Maggot Hagerman has covered me incorrectly for ten years. Her book is a joke! 90% of it is Fake News. She has made a living off her bad reporting, and will pay the price when our Multi Billion Dollar Lawsuit against The Failing New York Times gets to Court, which should not be that long. I don’t mind bad press, if they are right. I do mind Fake Reporting, like what’s in her boring book, and like she’s done for eleven years, with only one aim in mind, to have Trump lose Elections but, as I sit in the Oval Office and ponder, that hasn’t worked out too well. Maggot is a loser! If she ever wrote the true story about me, it would actually be quite boring, but loaded with lots of SUCCESS. Also, I just finished a perfect physical at Walter Reed, I do it every six months, and I requested another Cognitive Test, the only President to do so, three times, and I aced them all — Got every question right. Few people in Washington, D.C., could do so, including Maggot and her flunky associate, Jonathan Swan. I would be willing to bet they couldn’t get 50% of the questions right. Anyway, don’t buy their book, it’s garbage! Trump”

Trump used the derogatory nickname “Maggot Hagerman” to refer to Haberman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has covered his political career for more than a decade. He accused her of publishing “Fake News” and urged his followers not to purchase a book she is reportedly working on with fellow New York Times reporter Jonathan Swan (see radaronline.com).

The president also referenced his pending lawsuit against The New York Times, describing it as a “multi billion dollar” case and saying it “should not be that long” before it reaches court. Trump has previously threatened to add Haberman personally to the litigation (see radaronline.com).

Trump claimed he had completed a “perfect physical” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He said he requested a cognitive test for a third time, asserting he “got every question right.” He called himself “the only President” to voluntarily take the exam three times.

Haberman shared a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 with colleagues for reporting on Trump advisers and their connections to Russia. She authored the 2022 book “Confidence Man: The Making of Trump and the Breaking of America” (see radaronline.com). Haberman and Swan are said to be working on another book focused on Trump and his political world.

Trump’s criticism of Haberman is part of a broader pattern of confrontations with members of the press, particularly female reporters. He has previously targeted CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins and Washington Post reporter Natalie Allison in similar fashion (see radaronline.com).

A Zenger analysis of a real-time database of all Truth Social posts found that 10 of 519 Trump posts in the last 30 days addressed the topic of “Media bias.”