Even this Trump expert was shocked at the president’s comments on Jeanine Pirro

New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman says President Donald Trump’s recent outburst regarding U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro reveals significant insight into the president’s current mindset. The reaction followed Pirro’s decision to drop a criminal case against canoeist David Hearn, who had been accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

A Surprising Public Rebuke

During a Thursday night appearance on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Haberman described the president’s reaction as "shocking." Trump publicly claimed that Pirro "choked" and "folded like an umbrella" by failing to pursue the charges against Hearn, suggesting the top federal prosecutor crumbled under pressure.

As part of the press pool, Haberman witnessed Trump’s visible frustration firsthand. She noted that his anger was directed specifically at Pirro, a known loyalist, rather than Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose department had allegedly misled her office about the case. Investigations eventually revealed that the damage to the pool was the result of botched maintenance rather than vandalism.

The Danger of Executive Pressure

Haberman suggested the public fallout likely stunned Pirro, given her history of loyalty to the president. "I think that for Pirro, who had always believed that he would be very loyal to her because she’s been pretty loyal to him, it was pretty surprising," Haberman told Collins. "It probably shouldn’t have been."

The reporter warned that this situation carries far more weight than past controversies, such as the infamous incident where Trump used a Sharpie marker to alter an official National Hurricane Center map to force a narrative regarding Hurricane Dorian’s path.

"This is not something like — remember the hurricane map in term one where he drew a cone and the storm wasn’t there – this is charging someone criminally," Haberman said. "This is not just drawing on a map … so expecting that a U.S. attorney is going to go to court and present information when she knows she can’t continue that case says a lot about where his mindset is."