White House Insiders Convinced Trump Is Unfit to Lead: Whistleblower

Speaking on the podcast The Court of History, hosted by political commentator and historian Sidney Blumenthal and Princeton professor Sean Wilentz, Taylor offered a rare glimpse into the internal dynamics of the Trump administration from someone who once operated at its highest levels.

“If I was sitting with Donald Trump right now,” Taylor said, “I would say, ‘I have friends in your White House, and some of them are laying very, very low, but they share many of the same concerns I had during your first term.’” According to Taylor, those concerns are rooted in Trump’s unchanged — and, in some ways, worsened — behavior.

“He is still the same man,” Taylor said, “but more emboldened, more reckless. He remains deeply impulsive, only now he’s surrounded by fewer constraints. There are no real guardrails left.”

Taylor rose to national prominence in 2018 when he authored an anonymous op-ed in The New York Times, describing himself as part of a group of senior officials within the Trump administration who were committed to curbing what they viewed as the president’s most dangerous impulses. That op-ed, published under the pseudonym “Anonymous,” was later expanded into the best-selling book A Warning.

Taylor eventually revealed himself as the author shortly before the 2020 presidential election, prompting a furious backlash from Trump and his allies.

Trump, having returned to power, has since signed an executive order suggesting Taylor may have committed treason and ordered a formal investigation into his actions. In response, Taylor recently filed a legal complaint urging federal watchdog agencies to investigate what he characterizes as politically motivated retaliation.

In the podcast interview, Taylor warned that Trump’s second term is marked by the absence of moderating influences — the so-called “adults in the room” such as former Defense Secretary James Mattis, who were credited with preventing Trump from carrying out some of his more extreme plans during his first term.

Now, with Trump reportedly surrounded by loyalists and ideologically aligned aides, including former Fox News host turned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Taylor says the environment is more dangerous.

“The people around him today aren’t pushing back,” Taylor stated. “In fact, they’re demonstrating total fealty to the leader. That kind of unchecked loyalty is resulting in a number of dangerous decisions.”

Taylor emphasized that some individuals in national security roles still believe they can moderate Trump’s behavior from within — a notion he said may be increasingly unrealistic. “People of conscience within this administration know they are an endangered species,” he said. “They’re holding on, hoping they can guide the ship just a little, but they know the tide is against them.”

Historian Sean Wilentz characterized Trump’s leadership style as a unique blend of authoritarianism and criminality, quipping that the former president operates like “John Gotti meets Louis XIV” — a comment that drew laughter but showed the seriousness of the discussion.

Taylor also highlighted the immense influence of Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff and a key architect of the administration’s controversial immigration policies. Taylor described Miller’s authority as “almost absolute,” noting that his ability to shape policy often bypasses traditional processes and institutional checks.

“Stephen is always deferential to the president in public,” Taylor said. “But behind the scenes, he has effectively positioned himself as the primary decision-maker on matters like homeland security and immigration enforcement.”

Recalling a particularly striking moment from 2018, Taylor described a phone call in which Miller informed him that he had secured expanded authority from Trump over Department of Homeland Security matters. “He literally said, ‘Think of this as my coronation,’” Taylor recounted. “It wasn’t a public announcement. It was a quiet but significant consolidation of power.”

Taylor argued that this moment captured a deeper truth about the current administration’s governing philosophy. “It’s not about democracy, checks, and balances. It’s about consolidating power — ruling absolutely.”

Miller’s expanded role, Taylor warned, has tangible consequences. He pointed to recent military-style Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in cities like Los Angeles as examples of Miller’s policy vision playing out unchecked.

“That has Stephen Miller’s fingerprints all over it,” Taylor said, adding that the current Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, has effectively been reduced to a figurehead. “She’s relegated to a public relations role while Miller drives the real decisions.”

When asked whether it would be fair to describe Miller as a “co-president,” Taylor hesitated. “That might be a bridge too far,” he said, “and Stephen would never promote that notion himself. He understands that all of his authority is derived directly from the president.”

But Taylor stressed the distinction between Miller and virtually everyone else he worked with during the Trump years: “He’s the only person I ever engaged with in the White House who never privately criticized the president — not even once. Everyone else, from cabinet secretaries to mid-level staff, would vent their frustrations in private. They knew who he was. But Stephen never broke character.”

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Taylor’s comments show a central warning: that the Trump administration is increasingly insular, ideologically rigid, and dangerously unrestrained. With traditional institutional safeguards diminished or gone entirely, Taylor believes the risk of autocratic overreach is greater than ever.

“People need to understand,” he concluded, “what’s happening inside that White House isn’t politics as usual. It’s something else entirely — and it demands our full attention.”