Haberman: ‘Angry’ Trump Phoned NYT After Emergency Landing To Threaten Lawsuit, Claiming Proof Of Willie Brown Helicopter Story

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

Maggie Haberman with The New York Times reported Friday night that former President Donald Trump phoned her after his airplane was forced into an emergency landing in Montana to rail against the paper’s coverage of his Thursday presser.

Trump was reportedly fuming about a refuted claim he once boarded a helicopter with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and threatened to sue the Times over its coverage of the story.

The former president stated on Thursday, “I know Willie Brown very well. In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe this is the end. We were in a helicopter going to a certain location together, and there was an emergency landing… This was not a pleasant landing, and Willie was, he was a little concerned. So I know him, I know him pretty well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years.”

Trump also claimed Brown shared with him unflattering details about Harris, who he previously dated.

Brown denied the story multiple times Friday. According to Haberman, Trump was agitated after his plane touched down in Billings, Montana, after a reported mechanical issue. She reported :

Former President Donald J. Trump on Friday afternoon vehemently maintained that he had once been in a dangerous helicopter landing with Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco, and insisted he had records to prove it, despite Mr. Brown’s denial. In an angry phone call to a New York Times reporter as he landed several hours away from his planned rally in Bozeman, Mont., because of a mechanical issue on his plane, Mr. Trump excoriated The Times for its coverage of his meandering news conference on Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and home, during which he told of an emergency landing during a helicopter trip that he said both he and Mr. Brown had made together.

Habreman added:

“We have the flight records of the helicopter,” Mr. Trump insisted Friday, saying the helicopter had landed “in a field,” and indicating that he intended to release the flight records, before shouting that he was “probably going to sue” over the Times article. When asked to produce the flight records, Mr. Trump responded mockingly, repeating the request in a sing-song voice. As of early Friday evening, he had not provided them.

Brown said on Friday, “I’ve never been in a helicopter with [Trump] in my life.”