Maggie Haberman: Trump left his campaign a "mess" after sending angry texts to top GOP mega-donor

The former president lashed out at Miriam Adelson’s PAC which has raised $5.8 million for his campaign so far

By Nandika Chatterjee

News Fellow

Published August 15, 2024 12:29PM (EDT)

Ex-President and convicted felon Donald Trump speaks at the annual Road to Majority conference in Washington, DC, June 22, 2024. (ALLISON BAILEY/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Ex-President and convicted felon Donald Trump speaks at the annual Road to Majority conference in Washington, DC, June 22, 2024. (ALLISON BAILEY/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump’s advisors who are scrambling to put out yet another fire after he reportedly lashed out at Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson.

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman revealed the details of the GOP candidate’s latest temper tantrum during a CNN interview Wednesday night with Kaitlan Collins. Trump sent Adelson, his fourth-biggest donor who has given $5.8 million to his campaign, an angry text undermining her PAC’s efforts to support him in the 2024 presidential race.

According to Haberman, Trump’s scathing slew of text messages sent via aide Natalie Harp accused Adelson’s Preserve America PAC of being run by “RINOS,” or Republicans in Name Only, which has now caused an urgent rift that his team is now struggling to repair.

"It's a mess that Trump world would like to not be dealing with," Haberman told Collins.

Haberman and her Times colleague Jonathan Swan published a report detailing "the worst three weeks" of Trump's campaign after Harris replaced former President Joe Biden as the Demcoratic nominee.

The Times reporter told Collins that in some ways Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is doing a better job as an “attack dog.” She explained that the Republican running-mate is "actually delivering a more coherent message than Trump is about Harris,” however even this comes with its limits.

Leaked texts from JD Vance exposed Trump’s running mate’s crude dismissal of Miriam Adelson’s late husband Sheldon Adelson who was an avid Trump supporter and donor, Mediaite reported.

Trump’s recent actions show that his “anger is seeping out,” which is causing “erratic behavior that people around him are seeing and seeing during times of stress," Haberman said, adding that this only complicates his campaign efforts to stay on message.


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