Former President Donald Trump lashed out at The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman on Friday, ripping apart the newspaper’s coverage of his wild helicopter story that he dropped at his confused press conference at Mar-a-Lago.
The Republican candidate said in a press conference on Thursday that he once thought it was “the end” when he “crashed in a helicopter” before an emergency landing with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.
Brown has since denied that claim, calling Trump “obviously in the wrong.” Former Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden told Politico he believes the former president was referring to him at the press conference.
According to the Times, Trump attacked the newspaper in what Haberman described as an “angry phone call,” insisting that Brown was on the helicopter with him.
“We have the flight records of the helicopter,” Trump said, adding that the plane landed “in a field” and that he would “probably sue” the Times over its reporting.
The call reportedly came as Trump’s plane was diverted on Friday due to a mechanical problem but landed safely as he was en route to a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana.
Haberman reported that Trump mocked a Times request for flight records in a “singing voice.”
Finally, late Friday, he used his Truth Social platform to sharply criticize the Times and two “failing” reporters for “challenging” the helicopter story while reiterating his claim that Brown was on the helicopter.
“So far, they are about as accurate as their other stories about me,” wrote Trump, who referred to Haberman as “Maggot Hagerman.”
“When I became president, the New York Times at least apologized to its readers for its REALLY BAD COVERAGE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. They will probably have to do that again…”
Trump claimed in a separate post that there were “logs” as well as maintenance records and witnesses to the helicopter flight, without providing any evidence through the platform.
Brown, whom Trump said he knew “very well” when he told him his helicopter story, told CNN’s John Berman that such an episode with Trump “never happened, period.”
“And I think my memory is probably better than his,” Brown said Friday.
