A new book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan says Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “con man” and told Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson in a private Oval Office meeting that the United States should not go to war with Iran because a regional conflict would destroy his legacy. The book also says Trump first said he did not want any part in “Netanyahu’s war with Iran,” then changed his view after a Situation Room meeting in which Netanyahu presented the Israeli argument. CNN quoted the authors as saying “con man” is among the harshest insults in Trump’s vocabulary.
According to the book, Trump was “fascinated and horrified at the same time” by Israel’s September 2024 pager attack on Hezbollah. He described severe injuries in graphic detail to Musk and Carlson, repeatedly saying, “It’s terrible, terrible,” and marveling at the attack’s “indiscriminate nature” and “recklessness.” Musk was said to be transfixed by a gold pager Netanyahu gave Trump, while Trump asked Carlson for advice on how to influence the “base,” his right-wing supporters. Carlson criticized Trump for refusing to attack Netanyahu over what he called the “slaughter in Gaza,” and warned that Netanyahu was pushing the U.S. into a war with Iran that would end Trump’s presidency.
The book says Trump also boasted to the pair about a document claiming he was more powerful than leaders such as Stalin, Mao and Hitler. He said the writer was a presidential historian, but it was actually Gary Player’s golf equipment manager. Other episodes described him sticking gold trim in the Oval Office with superglue, insulting Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as “Pussy,” and calling his televised clash with Volodymyr Zelensky “better than ‘The Apprentice.’”
Haberman and Swan also report that Trump envoy Steve Witkoff tried to ingratiate himself with Vladimir Putin during a Kremlin meeting last year, where Putin wrote “3+2” on a note about territorial ideas for ending the war in Ukraine. Witkoff asked whether Putin could sign it, then framed the signed note at home. Another section says Trump clashed with Vice President JD Vance after the U.S. strike on Iran, angered that Vance did not repeat Trump’s claim that the operation had “totally destroyed” Iran’s nuclear program. Vance said the program had been set back significantly, but Trump cut him off, saying, “I know what I’m doing.”
The final section covers the White House’s response to the Jeffrey Epstein case in summer 2025. The book says top officials, including Vance and chief of staff Susie Wiles, held crisis meetings over possible leaks about the administration’s handling of Epstein material and Trump’s prior ties to the convicted sex offender. Trump wanted the issue to fade, while Vance pushed to release the files quickly and even floated arranging a Tucker Carlson interview with Ghislaine Maxwell in prison. Officials also considered having Justice Department lawyers question Maxwell and publish the transcript, and even discussed a possible pardon, though communications director Steven Cheung warned that pardoning Maxwell would be a public relations disaster.
