Trump team outraged after reporters obtain 'sensitive' leaked audio of Situation Room meetings for new book

By JAMES GORDON, US NEWS REPORTER Published: 00:00, 15 June 2026 | Updated: 00:10, 15 June 2026 President Donald Trump's top aides are scrambling to uncover what they fear could be a major security breach after reporters allegedly obtained extraordinarily detailed accounts of classified Situation Room discussions for a bombshell new book. The White House believes conversations held inside one of the world's most secure government facilities may have been secretly recorded, according to a report by Axios, raising alarm among senior officials and infuriating the president. The controversy centers on Regime Change, an upcoming book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, which contains vivid, blow-by-blow descriptions of sensitive meetings involving the Iran conflict and the administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. 'We're afraid some of our most sensitive conversations were being recorded,' an administration source told Axios. 'And we have no idea which ones.' The possibility has sent shockwaves through the West Wing, where officials are struggling to understand how such detailed accounts of private discussions could have emerged.  If true, the leak would represent a stunning breach of security inside the Situation Room, where independent recording devices are forbidden and some of the nation's most sensitive military and national security discussions take place. The concern stems from excerpts already released from the book, including passages describing high-level meetings involving the administration's handling of both the Iran conflict and the politically explosive Jeffrey Epstein files. Those excerpts contain extensive dialogue attributed to senior officials and provide unusually detailed descriptions of exchanges that took place behind closed doors. Independent recording devices are prohibited inside the Situation Room, picture, which is considered one of the most secure facilities in the federal government. Pictured: White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio sit in the Situation Room in June 2025 White House officials fear reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan may have obtained recordings or highly detailed accounts of conversations from the Situation Room Axios reported that President Donald Trump is furious over the detailed accounts of private discussions contained in the forthcoming book Notably, White House officials have not publicly challenged some of the quoted exchanges included in the previews. Among the most attention-grabbing passages is an account of Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ideas regarding regime change in Iran. According to the excerpt published by The New York Times, Rubio bluntly told colleagues: 'In other words, it's bulls***.' The book's authors conducted more than 1,000 interviews while reporting Regime Change, which chronicles the tumultuous first year of Trump's return to power. But the precision of some of the scenes has fueled speculation that interviews alone may not explain how certain conversations were reconstructed. Axios reported that Trump himself is furious over what it described as the 'blow-by-blow accounts' contained in the forthcoming book. Haberman and Swan have so far declined to comment. The latest uproar comes as another excerpt from the book shines a spotlight on the administration's frantic internal efforts to contain political fallout surrounding the Epstein files. Last summer top Trump officials reportedly met in the Situation Room to discuss how to handle outrage over the DOJ and FBI claiming that it had no 'client list' belonging to Jeffrey Epstein  Haberman and Swan write that Trump wanted the Epstein controversy buried and became irritated whenever the subject was raised President Donald Trump, center right, attends a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room, at the White House, last month In a lengthy New York Times Magazine preview, Haberman and Swan describe a series of meetings held inside the Situation Room where top officials debated how to respond to mounting public scrutiny. According to the authors, Vice President JD Vance proposed releasing all available files related to Epstein as quickly as possible. The book also claims Vance discussed what the authors described as an extraordinary public-relations strategy involving conservative commentator Tucker Carlson interviewing convicted Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell in prison. According to the excerpt, officials believed such an interview could potentially help if Maxwell stated that Trump had not engaged in wrongdoing connected to Epstein. Haberman and Swan write that Trump wanted the controversy buried and had become irritated whenever the subject arose. The authors claim staff members largely avoided discussing the issue directly with the president, choosing instead to wrestle with the growing crisis among themselves. The book further portrays deep tensions inside the Justice Department, with senior officials allegedly clashing over how to handle the politically damaging fallout. One particularly striking passage quotes then-Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino expressing alarm over the controversy. The book claims Vice President JD Vance floated an extraordinary proposal to have Tucker Carlson interview Ghislaine Maxwell in prison as White House officials scrambled to contain fallout over the Epstein files One excerpt recounts a Situation Room discussion about Iran in which Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly dismissed certain regime-change proposals as 'bulls***'  President Donald Trump gestures as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Administrator of Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer attend a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House, in Washington D.C. last month 'This is going to be President Trump's Iran-contra,' Bongino reportedly said, according to the authors. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the administration's handling of the Epstein matter in a statement provided to Axios. 'Just as President Trump has said, he's been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein,' Jackson said. She added that Trump had 'done more for Epstein's victims than anyone before him' through document releases, cooperation with congressional inquiries and support for additional investigations. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.