Trump’s OBSESSED With Buying These Trees! – Why?

A public figure speaking at a podium during a press conference

An upcoming book claims that as U.S. bombs fell on Iran, President Trump was fixated on ordering maple trees for the White House grounds — and reportedly told aides, “I know how to buy good trees.”

Quick Take

New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan report Trump was preoccupied with White House landscaping during the early days of the Iran War.
Trump also showed reporters architect renderings of a new White House ballroom while discussing regime change in Iran.
The tree claim comes from a book with unnamed sources, and Trump was actively engaged in war diplomacy during the same period.
Critics called Trump’s White House events — including a UFC fight on his 80th birthday — “demeaning the office” during wartime.

The Tree Story That Has Washington Buzzing

An upcoming book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan claims Trump was boasting about his ability to buy “good maple trees” in the early days of the Iran War. ^[11] The image is striking — a wartime president haggling over landscaping while strikes were underway against Iran. It fits a media narrative that has followed Trump for years: the man is always focused on the wrong thing. But before accepting that frame, it is worth asking what the evidence actually shows.

The tree claim rests entirely on an unnamed source inside a book that has not yet been published. No White House memo, no contractor testimony, no dated purchase order has surfaced to confirm Trump ordered trees during the war’s opening weeks. That does not make the story false. It does make it unverified. Haberman and Swan are serious reporters, but anonymous sourcing in a book about a political opponent deserves the same scrutiny any fair reader would apply to anonymous sourcing about anyone else.

Trump Was Also Running a War at the Same Time

The fuller picture is more complicated than the tree story suggests. Trump submitted a formal War Powers Report to Congress on March 2, notifying lawmakers of the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes he authorized on February 28. ^[1] He rejected Iran’s proposal to end the war, saying he was not satisfied with the terms. ^[4] He communicated publicly that the conflict would end “very soon.” ^[3] A president can order maple trees and manage a war at the same time. Most executives juggle far more trivial decisions alongside high-stakes ones every single day.

That said, Trump’s own behavior handed critics easy ammunition. He showed a reporter architect renderings of a new White House ballroom during a conversation about regime change in Iran. ^[6] He said “Oh, I love inflation” during a bill signing while the war was ongoing. He hosted a UFC fight on the South Lawn for his 80th birthday, with press access controlled by the UFC itself. White House correspondent April Ryan called the event “demeaning the office.” Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui framed it as a political distraction from an unpopular war, rising inflation, and legal setbacks. ^[1] Whether you agree with those critics or not, Trump’s team created the optics problem themselves.

Why This Story Keeps Getting Traction

There is a well-documented pattern in political science called diversionary foreign policy — the idea that leaders use bold foreign action or domestic spectacle to pull public attention away from problems at home. Researchers have found that presidential executive orders are more likely to be signed on days when other big news dominates the cycle, precisely to reduce scrutiny. ^[13] Critics of Trump have applied this lens to everything from the Iran strikes to the UFC event to the ballroom renderings. Whether the trees fit that pattern or are simply a real estate developer talking about something he genuinely knows is a question the book’s unnamed source cannot answer alone.

Lawrence reading from Regime Change: As he greeted us, the war seemed the furthest thing from Trump's mind. On the resolute desk, instead of a map of the Middle East, were printouts of maple trees. I'm ordering trees for the white house, trump told us. I know how to buy good… pic.twitter.com/zwGWvfHdKs

— Acyn (@Acyn) June 23, 2026

What is clear is this: the Iran War is real, the stakes are serious, and the American public deserves to know how their president is spending his attention. If Trump ordered trees while missiles were flying, that is a legitimate story. But it needs more than one unnamed source to become established fact. Until procurement records, contractor testimony, or a named witness steps forward, the tree story is a vivid anecdote — not a verdict. Readers should hold the image in mind while waiting for the evidence to catch up.