CNN’s Jake Tapper and Maggie Haberman Say Trump Is Looking To Wreak Maximum ‘Havoc’ Like Vicious Dino-Predator

CNN anchor Jake Tapper and New York Times correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman agreed President-elect Donald Trump is looking to “wreak havoc” like an extinct predator, and won’t govern like a “Reaganesque” figure.

This week, Trump was named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” for the second time — an achievement that was accompanied by a lengthy bombshell interview that included scores of newsworthy and otherwise provocative declarations and comments.

On Thursday’s edition of CNN’s The Lead, Haberman joined Tapper to discuss the honor and the interview and lend her unique insights on a subject she has covered closely for decades.

Tapper posed the choice between a “Reaganesque” second term and a Jurassic Park “velociraptor” testing limits and “wreaking havoc” — and both agreed the latter is more likely:

HABERMAN: These are things that he’s clearly reveling in. And you could see it when he was there today.

In terms of his mindset, you know, he was actually a little more explicit on certain things than he has been. It’s also just a reminder, Jake. Yes, he certainly was much more accessible than President Biden or Vice President Harris, but he actually has not been that accessible to mainstream media for a while.

TAPPER: Nope.

HABERMAN: A lot of podcasts. He has not done a ton of interviews. He is starting to do a few more.

So he talked about, you know, medicine abortion. He actually was dodging answering questions about that. He talked about following the law, but going up to the maximum of what the law allows. And what we have seen is that his — his lawyers have repeatedly pressed for a maximalist interpretation of what the law would allow.

TAPPER: Right.

HABERMAN: So what it tells me, and I think tells you, is that he is coming into D.C. really feeling quite powerful and feeling as if he can, you know, test what he wants to test.

I do think it’s important for people to remember he did do the job once before, and so he is coming in with a better understanding of how Washington works. Is he the most detail-oriented human on policy? No, he did come in last time, actually, with a policy agenda that he wanted to enact, and he got totally stymied by, you know, someone in his own administration and flummoxed by the various investigations into him.

He’s not facing any of that right now. So it’ll be interesting to see what it looks like.

TAPPER: Well, the question then becomes, does this knowledge that he has, does that mean that he will be more Reaganesque in his delivery? Or is it like the velociraptor who tests — tests the door in Jurassic Park and then is now figuring out how he can more successfully wreak havoc?

HABERMAN: Right. Several people who have worked for him over the years have used the Jurassic Park analogy, so I think that seems.

TAPPER: Yes. I didn’t make it up.

HABERMAN: Right. It seems like. Well, I’m just saying, if you have to pick which one you think it’s going to be.

I don’t think it’s going to be Reaganesque delivery. I think he is going to say things like, I’ll be fair to you, as long as you’re fair to me, which we have heard him and his version of fairness is not necessarily everybody else’s.

TAPPER: That means no criticism.

HABERMAN: Right. It means — it means doing what he wants or saying what he wants and not opposing him.

Watch above via CNN’s The Lead.