Miles Taylor

Miles Taylor argues that Todd Blanche’s loyalty to Donald Trump has led him to compromise legal and constitutional principles, citing the mishandling of Jeffrey Epstein-related files, alleged efforts to protect Trump and his allies, and Blanche’s refusal to promise limits on presidential abuses of power. Taylor contrasts Blanche with former attorneys-general Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr, who resisted some of Trump’s most extreme proposals and ultimately left office. He warns that Blanche’s confirmation as attorney-general would remove a key constitutional check on Trump and leave Blanche personally responsible for future unlawful actions, including unauthorized wars, political prosecutions, emergency tariffs, and deals benefiting Trump’s family.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump’s sensitivity to insults and desire for personal respect have made him vulnerable to manipulation by Iran, repeating a pattern seen during his first term with North Korea. He contends that Iran is prolonging the war while Russia and China provide strategic, financial and technological support, benefiting from US military distraction. Taylor predicts an open-ended conflict that could weaken American support for Ukraine, reduce focus on China and Taiwan, and create opportunities for Russia around NATO. He calls on Republicans and Congress to resist further escalation, including by using control of military funding to force restraint.

Miles Taylor argues that the death of US Senator Lindsey Graham, although preliminarily attributed to a ruptured aorta caused by chronic heart disease, warrants a thorough and transparent government investigation. The case gained urgency after Iranian-linked propaganda appeared to depict Graham's death and Russian commentators revived earlier threats against him. Taylor cites Graham's recent trip to Kyiv, his sanctions legislation targeting countries supporting Moscow, and his history as a prominent critic of Iran. Drawing on his role in the US response to the 2018 Salisbury poisoning, Taylor calls for toxicology testing, counterintelligence reviews, and forensic examination of Graham's final days, travel, and home. He says a finding of natural causes would still counter foreign propaganda, while evidence of foreign involvement would require a swift and severe response.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump’s intervention with FIFA president Gianni Infantino helped secure the suspension of Folarin Balogun’s automatic ban, damaging confidence in football’s impartiality even though the United States subsequently lost to Belgium. He links the episode to FIFA’s history of corruption scandals, its close relationship with Trump and the US Justice Department’s decision to drop a FIFA bribery case. Drawing on his experience in Trump’s first administration, Taylor says Trump routinely attacked judges, pressured institutions and sought to eliminate referees when they ruled against him. He concludes that FIFA’s alleged capitulation has harmed Balogun, the US team and America’s reputation, while validating the view that sport can be bought and used to launder political power and reputations.

Miles Taylor argues that the poorly attended celebrations of America’s 250th anniversary became a symbol of Donald Trump’s second-term decline and self-absorption. Drawing on his experience in Trump’s first administration, Taylor says lawyers, Cabinet officials and national-security staff once filtered or moderated the president’s most reckless ideas, whereas the second term has removed those safeguards and surrounded Trump with loyalists who reinforce his insecurities. He portrays the National Mall festivities as a grandiose, embarrassing spectacle centered on Trump rather than the country, and warns that dismantling institutional restraints exposes Americans to the consequences of unchecked executive power.

Donald Trump’s public prediction of Keir Starmer’s resignation illustrates, in Miles Taylor’s view, his tendency to treat allied leaders as disposable political props rather than partners. Drawing on his experience in Trump’s first administration, Taylor recalls efforts to restrain Trump’s attacks on Theresa May and preserve US-UK cooperation. He argues that Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Israeli officials now show a broader willingness to resist Trump after concluding that deference earns them little. Although this defiance may encourage Britain to pursue a more independent relationship with Washington, Taylor warns that Trump interprets independence as betrayal. An increasingly isolated and angry US president could therefore become more impulsive, threaten international agreements and destabilize relations with allies.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump’s conduct at the 2018 G7 summit foreshadowed a broader foreign-policy shift that has severely damaged trust in the United States. Trump’s unilateral military actions, pressure on allies, hostility toward European leaders, threats involving Greenland, reduced focus on Ukraine and support for restoring Russia to the G8 are presented as evidence of this rupture. Citing European polling, Taylor says only 11 per cent of Europeans now view the US as an ally, while G7 countries increase defence spending and prepare for greater self-reliance. The absence of a customary joint statement is portrayed as a sign that America no longer leads the Western alliance and that European patience is running out.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump’s planned 80th-birthday UFC event at the White House symbolizes the conversion of American government into authoritarian spectacle. Drawing parallels with Rome’s decline, Taylor contrasts Trump’s current compliance from government allies with the resistance he encountered during his first term, when officials blocked an expensive military parade. He contends that Trump’s growing use of monuments, lavish renovations, renamed institutions and public entertainment reflects a broader erosion of democratic checks and the subordination of national institutions to presidential ego.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump uses lawsuits and criminal investigations as a business-style pressure tactic to force perceived enemies to capitulate. He focuses on John Bolton’s expected guilty plea over retaining classified information, portraying the case as a revived prosecution that imposes a financially and legally devastating settlement despite Bolton’s denial of broader wrongdoing. Taylor contrasts Bolton’s treatment with the dismissal of the classified-documents case against Trump and cites James Comey as another apparent target. He warns that selective, retaliatory investigations could intimidate critics, create separate tiers of justice and further erode American democracy.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump applies the same cycle to government and foreign policy that characterized many of his businesses: spectacular hype, personal branding and profit-seeking, followed by neglect, declining performance and an attempt to shift blame. Drawing on his experience in the first Trump administration, Taylor says the border wall was treated primarily as a publicity product, while disaster aid to Puerto Rico and the COVID-19 response received inadequate attention because they offered little political or personal glory. He applies the same framework to the Iran war, Greenland proposals and other initiatives, arguing that Trump’s policies have increased debt, weakened alliances, disrupted markets, damaged federal agencies and endangered democratic institutions. Taylor also presents a proposed federal-worker nondisclosure agreement as an effort to suppress dissent and protect the administration from scrutiny. He concludes that rising consumer and political anger could make Trump’s presidency the largest failed enterprise of his career, with voters ultimately demanding accountability.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump becomes more aggressive abroad when weakened at home, drawing on confidential meetings from Trump's first term and his response to the 2018 midterm elections. He predicts that future electoral losses could prompt Trump to pursue military action in Latin America, abandon Ukraine and Taiwan, weaken or leave NATO, undermine trade agreements, interfere in allied elections and potentially challenge the constitutional transfer of power. Taylor urges US allies to strengthen cooperation among democracies, warning that Trump’s pursuit of personal power threatens American institutions and the postwar international order.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump’s personal retaliation against him has evolved into a broader blueprint for suppressing dissent and targeting journalists. He links Trump’s “treason” investigation, subpoenas seeking reporters’ sources, raids on journalists, pressure on broadcasters and lawsuits against media organizations to an administration-wide campaign against critical speech. Taylor says FBI Director Kash Patel and other officials are replicating these tactics, while foreign autocrats are drawing lessons from Washington’s conduct. Citing Reporters Without Borders’ warning about declining global press freedom, he concludes that defending open societies requires organized defiance rather than accommodation.

Miles Taylor warns that classified Presidential Emergency Action Documents, national emergency authorities and newer domestic counterterrorism policies could give Donald Trump tools to detain civilians, seize communications, freeze bank accounts and suppress political opposition. He argues that the administration is increasingly treating domestic political movements like foreign terrorist organizations and that expanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention capacity could be misused around the 2026 midterm elections. Taylor does not predict that the scenario will occur, but says the legal, bureaucratic and physical infrastructure is now in place and urges Congress and state election officials to prepare legal and institutional safeguards.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump’s rhetoric, official investigations and supporters’ threats have created a culture of intimidation that drives critics and Republican lawmakers into self-censorship. Drawing on death threats and security risks he faced after criticizing Trump, Taylor says Republican leaders privately express alarm but remain publicly silent because of fear of retaliation. He cites the surge in threats against members of Congress and the January 6 Capitol attack as evidence that intimidation has become effective. Taylor contends that coordinated public dissent could reduce the risks for individual lawmakers, while continued silence strengthens Trump’s tactics and erodes civil liberties.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump’s fascination with nuclear weapons, willingness to use escalatory rhetoric and disregard for institutional restraint make a nuclear crisis more likely. Drawing on his experience in the first Trump administration, Taylor describes emergency preparations during tensions with North Korea and says advisers previously helped de-escalate Trump’s impulses. He argues that the current crisis involving Iran, Israel, Russia and China is more dangerous, particularly because Trump has reportedly ordered the resumption of US nuclear testing. Taylor warns that renewed testing could encourage Russia, China, Pakistan, India and North Korea to restart their own programmes, weaken non-proliferation norms and increase the risk of future nuclear catastrophe.

Miles Taylor argues from his experience in the first Trump administration that Donald Trump’s apparent strategic confidence masks profound ignorance and an inability to understand consequences. Taylor recalls Trump dismissing detailed warnings about armed drones by repeatedly saying they should simply be shot down, while officials had to work with Congress to obtain the necessary authorities and technology. He contends that Trump’s second-term dismantling of internal checks has turned this management problem into a global crisis, citing the US-Iran conflict and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which he says experts had predicted. The resulting deaths, energy-price increases and threats to global supply chains demonstrate, in Taylor’s view, why allies should stop expecting Trump to respond rationally, acknowledge mistakes or be restrained by advisers.

Miles Taylor argues that Donald Trump’s current conduct reflects the dangerous impulses Taylor witnessed during Trump’s first administration, including discussions of striking North Korea with nuclear weapons and withdrawing from NATO. Taylor says officials such as James Mattis and John Kelly previously restrained or contained Trump, but that no comparable safeguards remain. He accuses congressional Republicans of refusing to challenge Trump and argues that the United States has become a destabilizing force rather than a defender of freedom. Taylor calls on U.S. institutions and America’s democratic allies to confront Trump before his actions cause catastrophic damage.

A former senior Department of Homeland Security official alleges that Donald Trump repeatedly proposed using violence against migrants during his first administration, including shooting them, targeting their legs, installing spikes on the border wall and creating a moat with dangerous animals. The author connects those private proposals with Trump's reported threats to attack Iranian power and desalination infrastructure, arguing that deliberate attacks on civilian facilities would constitute war crimes and destroy U.S. and Western moral authority. The piece urges Britain and other allies to oppose such actions rather than rely on Trump's personal morality to restrain him.

Miles Taylor argues that the central concern about Donald Trump is not simply whether he has experienced cognitive decline, but whether the presidency still has safeguards capable of containing his impulsive decisions. Drawing on his experience at the Department of Homeland Security, Taylor describes Trump as distractible, reliant on simplified visual information, prone to tangents, and susceptible to flattery. He contends that senior officials who once challenged Trump have been replaced by loyalists who reinforce his instincts, citing the administration’s reluctance to question claims of success in the Iran war. Taylor contrasts this with the first term, when aides reportedly managed to redirect Trump during a dangerous hurricane briefing, and warns that the loss of institutional restraint could increase the risk of serious failures in matters of war, disaster response, and national security.

Joe Kent’s resignation as director of the National Counterterrorism Center directly challenges Donald Trump’s claim that Iran posed an imminent threat requiring military action. The breach could prompt congressional, inspector-general and prosecutorial investigations into what intelligence Trump received, whether he overrode contrary assessments and whether he misled Congress. Kent’s expected media appearances may amplify the dissent, while disputes over the Epstein files, tariffs, inflation and the Iran war are widening fractures among Trump’s MAGA and Republican supporters. Drawing on his own resignation from the first Trump administration, Miles Taylor argues that a wave of officials breaking ranks could again become a serious threat to Trump’s presidency.