White House correspondent Maggie Haberman on Sunday pushed back on questions surrounding President Donald Trump's travel arrangements, referring to Natalie Harp as his human "binkie."

Haberman, who has covered Trump since his years as a New York real estate developer, appeared on MS NOW Sunday morning with host Jacob Soboroff to discuss the New York Times' recent reporting on Trump's catering container escape and the people who were left behind on a decoy Air Force One.

"We still don't have answers to as to how he picked," Haberman said, then added wryly, "I can guess why Natalie Harp and and Dan Scavino were with him."

Harp is a former One America News host who joined Trump's White House staff as an aide; Scavino, who ran Trump's social media operation going back to the 2016 campaign, is one of his longest-serving aides.

Haberman said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's presence on the plane made tactical sense because Trump was engaged in a military operation on a military jet. Harp, she said, was on board for a different reason.

"She is sort of his binkie for lack of a better way of putting it," Haberman said. "[His] comfort blanket."

She said Walt Nauta, a Navy veteran who has served as Trump's personal aide since his first term and was charged alongside him in the federal classified-documents case that was later dismissed, appeared to be there for a similar reason: hairspray.

"He also always carries that brown leather briefcase that became very familiar in term one," Haberman said. "It had things like Tic Tacs and hairspray and all kinds of stuff."

Soboroff then questioned Trump's decision not to bring Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff who has shaped Trump's immigration policy since his first term, on the flight.

"[Miller] is sort of locked at the hip with the president," Soboroff said. "And when I heard that he left Stephen Miller back on the plane, I don't know, my ears perked up. I don't know what to make of it."

Haberman said she did not know and said the limited public explanation reflected how little has been disclosed about the decision-making process.

"As best as we can tell from our reporting, this was a scramble," she said. "I understand this all happened fast, but it speaks to the degree to which they don't trust the media. They don't see having to tell the media things as a priority at all, or public disclosure."

Presidential travel aboard Air Force One has customarily been accompanied by a small traveling press pool that documents the president's movements, a longstanding norm that frames the disclosure questions Haberman raised.