The president, who has a history of spewing sometimes vile insults at rivals, has in recent days escalated his attacks against the 33-year-old self-described democratic socialist.

‘Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards. I’ll save New York City,’ the president says. Mr. Curl covered the White House for a dozen years as a correspondent for the Washington Times. He also ran the Drudge Report for four years as the morning editor.