Tag Archives: President Donald Trump

Raw Story: DOJ’s shock move lets Trump stack immigration courts with handpicked lawyers

Posted on by
Reply

The Justice Department plans to scrap longstanding rules and qualifications for immigration judges and create a new policy where it can appoint any lawyer it wants to temporarily preside over cases, reported Government Executive on Wednesday.

“The change gives Attorney General Pam Bondi wide latitude in selecting officials to oversee asylum and other cases pending before the Executive Office of Immigration Review, the Justice Department agency that runs the nation’s immigration courts,” said the report. “That authority could provide President Trump with additional power to withhold legal status from immigrants and expedite his mass deportation efforts.”

Immigration judges are different from typical so-called “Article III” judges, like the Supreme Court, courts of appeals, and district courts, who are constitutional officers appointed for life; they are instead “Article I” judges who were authorized by Congress to serve at the pleasure of the presidential administration and hear narrow types of subject matter issues.

“Since 2014, the department has allowed only former immigration judges, administrative law judges from other agencies or Justice attorneys with at least 10 years of experience related to immigration law to serve as temporary immigration judges, or TIJs,” said the report. “In its update, to be issued Thursday as a final rule, EOIR called those parameters overly restrictive, noting it has hired fewer than a dozen temporary judges since the Obama administration put them into place.”

The shortage of immigration judges available to hear cases has been a contentious issue for years, and was part of the reason for the massive backlog of cases for the surge of migrants in the years prior to the Trump administration.

A bipartisan immigration deal cut in the final years of the Biden administration would have established more funding for immigration courts to operate on an expedited basis; however, Trump worked behind the scenes to tank the deal among Republican lawmakers.

This makes a mockery of justice under administrative judges. All administrative judges should be removed from Department of Justice and placed under the supervision of the circuit / district courts.

DOJ’s shock move lets Trump stack immigration courts with handpicked lawyers

https://www.rawstory.com/doj-judges

Atlanta Black Star News: Border Agent Accused of Drunkenly Invading Women’s Bathroom Before Assaulting Officers, Found Dead at 29

Posted on by
Reply

A U.S. Border Patrol agent who faced criminal charges for assaulting police officers in California has been found dead, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

Isaiah Anthony Hodgson, 29, was discovered inside a Riverside County home, east of Los Angeles, on Friday, just days after a recent court appearance. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a call in Lake Elsinore around 12:45 p.m. on Aug. 22, where Hodgson was pronounced dead at the scene, NBC News reported.

No cause of death has been released. The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing, though no foul play is suspected.

Hodgson had been arrested on July 7 in Long Beach after what prosecutors described as a drunken night that began in a women’s bathroom and ended in a confrontation with officers.

According to ABC7, Hodgson, who was carrying a handgun, was accused of entering the women’s bathroom of a Shoreline Village restaurant on July 7 and refusing to leave. When officers arrived, Hodgson reportedly “became agitated and physical with the officers.” One officer sustained injuries during the arrest.  

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed Hodgson was employed as a border agent at the time of his arrest. He had pleaded not guilty to three felony charges of resisting arrest and assaulting an officer. Hodgson had a preliminary hearing scheduled for late September, according to court documents viewed by NBC.

His death drew scrutiny online, as Hodgson has been involved in the chaotic June arrest of 20-year-old Adrian Andrew Martinez, a Walmart employee accused of impeding federal officers conducting immigration detainments outside of Martinez’s store in the Los Angeles suburb of Pico Rivera.

Many critics tied it to President Donald Trump’s ongoing push for ramped-up ICE raids across Los Angeles.

One Threads user captioned a local news clip, “Remember that ICE agent who harassed a brown U.S. citizen, then went drunk to Long Beach harassing a woman and fighting a cop? He’s now been found dead.”

The post racked up more than a thousand comments, many indifferent to Hodgson’s fate.

One user didn’t hold back:, “Normally I wouldn’t say this out of respect but in this case…the world is just a tad bit better off without him. Hopefully his dear leader won’t be far behind.”

A similar tone continued with another user adding, “Yeah, he knew he was guilty for his sins and couldn’t deal with his guilt. We’re going to see a lot of it!” another commenter added.

Hodgson’s arrest had already made headlines in Southern California. His booking photo circulated after Long Beach police said he was heavily intoxicated during the scuffle. Prosecutors noted his law enforcement position when filing charges, but CBP at the time only said it was “aware of the arrest” and pledged cooperation with local authorities.

The agency has not commented publicly on his death.

Good riddance!

Border Agent Accused of Drunkenly Invading Women’s Bathroom Before Assaulting Officers, Found Dead at 29
“Border agent accused of assaulting officers found dead at 29. Shocking details emerge. Click to uncover the mysterious circumstances. 😮…
Border Agent Accused of Drunkenly Invading Women’s Bathroom Before Assaulting Officers, Found Dead at 29

New Civil Rights Movement: ‘Frogs in a Boiling Pot’: Trump Blasted After Again Insisting ‘I’m Not a Dictator’

Posted on by
Reply

For the second day in a row, President Donald Trump insisted he is not a dictator, but also insisted that many Americans would like to have one running the country. Some critics are calling his remarks a “trial balloon.”

“So the line is that I’m a dictator — but I stop crime,” Trump said at his televised Cabinet meeting on Tuesday (video below). “So a lot of people say, ‘You know, if that’s the case, I’d rather have a dictator.’ But I’m not a dictator. I just know how to stop crime.”

Those remarks echo ones he made just one day earlier in the Oval Office while attacking Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker.

“I have some slob like Pritzker criticizing us before we even go there,” he said of his plan to deploy the National Guard to Chicago. “I made the statement that next should be Chicago, ’cause, as you all know, Chicago’s a killing field right now. And they don’t acknowledge it, and they say, ‘We don’t need him. Freedom, freedom. He’s a dictator, he’s a dictator.’”

“A lot of people are saying, maybe we like a dictator,” Trump mused. “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person.”

Declaring that an American president “even suggesting that Americans want to do away with democracy and be ruled” by a dictator is “chilling,” Rolling Stone on Monday noted that “Trump has been ruling like an authoritarian since retaking office in January, repeatedly thumbing his nose at Congress, the Constitution, and any other check on presidential power.”

CNN’s Aaron Blake, even before Trump’s second “I’m not a dictator” attestation, wrote: “Many people are increasingly entertaining the idea of a dictator. They are his supporters.”

“They don’t necessarily say, ‘Yes, I want a dictator.’ But polling shows Republicans have edged in that direction – to a pretty remarkable degree.”

“Perhaps the most startling poll on this came last year,” Blake explained. “A University of Massachusetts Amherst survey asked about Trump’s comment that he wanted to be a dictator, but only for a day,” during the campaign. “Trump said it was a joke, but 74% of Republicans endorsed the idea.”

He noted that a “Pew Research Center poll early this year showed 59% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents agreed that many of the country’s problems could be better solved ‘if Donald Trump didn’t have to worry so much about Congress and the courts.’”

And, Blake added, “as many 3 or 4 in 10” Republicans, according to several polls, are “endorsing that kind of power.”

Critics expressed outrage.

Journalist Ahmed Baba observed: “This is the second day in a row he’s said this. This is an intentional normalization effort.”

Journalist Aaron Rupar wrote, “note how Trump on a daily basis is trying to normalize the idea that he’s a dictator.”

Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) wrote: “Deploying the military to cities. Breaking laws. Attacking judges. Firing generals, economists, and central bankers who speak truth to power. Praising autocrats who hate America. Republican officials have given up on the rule of law. They obey the law of the ruler. But in America, law is king.”

Hedge fund manager Spencer Hakimian wrote: “You are all frogs in a boiling pot.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

‘Frogs in a Boiling Pot’: Trump Blasted After Again Insisting ‘I’m Not a Dictator’
For the second day in a row, President Donald Trump insisted he is not a dictator, but also insisted that many Americans would like to have one running the country. Some critics are calling his remarks a “trial balloon.” “So the line is that I’m a dictator — but I stop crime,” Trump said at […]
‘Frogs in a Boiling Pot’: Trump Blasted After Again Insisting ‘I’m Not a Dictator’

Alternet: ‘Turning people against him’: Trump’s approval is ‘cratering’ on every major issue

Posted on by
Reply

Barely more than one-third of Americans approve of how President Donald Trump is doing his job, and on key issues, his support is underwater.

Just thirty-seven percent of Americans give President Trump good marks overall, while more than half the country, fifty-five percent, disapprove, according to the latest Quinnipiac University national poll.

The partisan divide is large, with 84% of Republicans saying he is doing a good job, and 98% of Democrats saying he is not. The majority of independents, 58%, agree with Democrats and disapprove.

Just less than three in ten women (29%) approve of President Trump’s performance, while 46% of men do.

On crime, the majority (54%) disapprove of Trump’s performance, just 42% approve.

On the economy, fewer than four in ten (39%) approve, and 57% disapprove.

Similarly, on trade, just 38% approve, while 56% disapprove.

On his efforts to end the Ukraine war, a majority (52%) disapprove, while just 40% approve.

“Voters have little confidence in President Trump’s effort to broker peace in Ukraine, and most voters don’t trust Vladimir Putin to keep a peace deal if one were reached,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy wrote. “And though the president has ruled out putting U.S. troops in the war theater to keep the peace, four out of 10 voters would support it,”

And two-thirds of Americans (67%) disapprove of his handling of the Epstein files.

According to the non-partisan group Political Polls, this is Trump’s lowest approval rating in this term.

Critics and strategists weighed in.

Mike Madrid, the top Republican Latino political consultant, remarked, “Brutal poll results for Trump. Just brutal.”

“Striking” is how The New Republic’s Greg Sargent described the poll’s finding on Trump deploying the National Guard, and he noted that Trump’s “overall approval on crime is cratering.”

“Predictably, Trump’s terrible overreach is again turning people against him in an area where he was previously perceived as strong, just as on immigration and the economy,” wrote Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). “Per Quinnipiac, independents oppose his DC occupation 61-34. Overall: 56-41 against.”

‘Turning people against him’: Trump’s approval is ‘cratering’ on every major issue

https://www.alternet.org/trump-approval-2673933698

Alternet: ‘Blatant and deplorable’: Trump admin employees say they’re forced to watch ‘propaganda’

Posted on by
Reply

Federal employees at the Department of the Interior are reportedly raising alarms over a weekly video series titled “Inside Interior,” which they describe as “propaganda” — a slick, over‑the‑top portrayal of President Donald Trump and agency leadership, complete with staged scenes and breathless narration.

The Daily Beast reported Wednesday that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, once tagged “Diva Doug” for requesting political appointees to bake chocolate chip cookies and summoning a U.S. Park Police helicopter for his own personal use, now finds himself at the center of growing backlash within his own department.

Staffers deride the Environment and Natural Resources Agency as “The Department of Propaganda,” a moniker born from their mounting frustration with weekly “Inside Interior” videos, widely criticized for their slick, “Dear Leader”-style presentation and unabashed praise of Trump and Burgum to a lesser extent.

The latest installment, according to the report, touts that “Interior made major moves to strengthen America’s energy future, protect taxpayer interests, and keep our nation’s capital city safe.”

But the true inflection point came with a July 4 special that left many shaken. The clip opens with Trump dancing to the Village People’s YMCA, then cuts to him exiting Air Force One, greeted by cheering construction workers, before returning to more footage of Trump, much to the chagrin of those compelled to watch.

The report further noted that the narration heralds the day with a patriotic fervor likened to authoritarian regimes: “Happy Birthday America!” “Today we celebrate 249 years of American liberty, freedom and strength and we’re doing it under the fearless leadership of President Donald J. Trump, who reminds us every day what true patriotism looks like as he works tirelessly to make America great again.”

Critics among the staff have dubbed the presentation “North Korea‑worthy,” according to the report.

Meanwhile, many already felt demoralized by deep cuts tied to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative and a policy shift prioritizing fossil fuel development over conservation.

A National Park Service employee told The Beast: “I have never seen a more blatant and deplorable display of propaganda on behalf of the Trump administration.”

Adding insult to injury, they note, “They even called for the USA to celebrate the 4th ‘the MAGA way!’

‘Blatant and deplorable’: Trump admin employees say they’re forced to watch ‘propaganda’

https://www.alternet.org/propaganda-interior-department

Alternet: ‘Grab everyone by the neck’: Presidential historian reveals Trump’s chief second-term goal

Posted on by
Reply

President Donald Trump is taking a much more direct, hands-on approach to governing in his second term compared to his first four years in the White House, according to a new report.

In a Wednesday article, the Wall Street Journal’s Josh Dawsey and Annie Linskey reported that the second Trump administration is moving with a decidedly faster tempo given that there are far fewer people in the Trump White House today who are willing to rein in his most impulsive decision-making. This has led to Trump making numerous unprecedented moves, including his attempt to fire a member of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors and teeing up a showdown with the Supreme Court — something that has never been done in the Fed’s 112-year history.

Despite his status as a term-limited commander-in-chief constrained by the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution from running for another four years, Trump nonetheless keeps “Trump 2028” campaign hats on display in the Oval Office and shows them off to visitors. Earlier this week, he toyed with the idea of being a “dictator,” saying that while some unnamed “people” had told him that they might “like” to have a dictator, he didn’t like dictators and refused to describe himself as such (Trump said during his 2024 campaign that he would be a dictator, “but only on Day One.”)

The Journal reported that Trump is more “in the weeds” in the day-to-day operations of federal agencies, ordering his Cabinet secretaries to make certain hiring and firing decisions and floating various ideas. He also reportedly spends much more time at the White House, “blaring music with doors of the Oval Office open, working later into the evening and telling his advisers that he is having fun.”

This is a sharp contrast to his first term, where he was dogged by multiple investigations like former DOJ Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump also lamented about his treatment at the hands of the Federal Reserve and the Kennedy Center after his first election. Trump has since commandeered the Kennedy Center and installed himself as chairman, with little to no pushback from his inner circle. Even his chief of staff, Susie Wiles (who managed his 2024 campaign), has taken a more lenient approach to her boss, insisting that her role is to manage the staff rather than the president.

According to Douglas Brinkley, who is a presidential historian at Rice University, Trump’s ultimate goal is “having control over all American institutions, adding: “He seems to want to grab everyone by the neck and say ‘I’m in charge.’”

“I think he’s learned there is not much that can really stop him from what he wants,” Marc Short, who was Trump’s first-term director of legislative affairs, told the Journal.

‘Grab everyone by the neck’: Presidential historian reveals Trump’s chief second-term goal

https://www.alternet.org/trump-second-term-goal

Daily Caller: Abigail Spanberger Says One Of Her First Moves As Governor Would Be Rolling Back Cooperation With ICE

Posted on by
Reply

Democratic Virginia gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger said one of her first moves in office would be rolling back Virginia law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Spanberger, if elected in November, has vowed to rescind an executive order issued by term-limited Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin that requires state police and local jails to assist ICE efforts in the commonwealth. The Democratic nominee’s pledge to scrap state law enforcement’s work with federal immigration authorities comes as ICE has conducted more than 4,000 arrests across Virginia since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term.

“I would rescind his executive order, yes,” Spanberger told the Virginia Mercury in an interview published Wednesday. “The idea that we would take local police officers or local sheriff’s deputies in amid all the things that they have to do, like community policing or staffing our jails or investigating real crimes, so that they can go and tear families apart … that is a misuse of those resources.”

Spanberger served three terms in the House of Representatives between 2019 and 2025 prior to running for governor. She notably opposed House Republicans’ comprehensive border security legislation known as H.R.2, the Secure the Border Act, in May 2023. The bill would have required the federal government to resume construction of the southern border wall, placed new restrictions on the asylum process and blocked illegal immigrants from the U.S. workforce by mandating employers to verify the legal status of their staff.

Republican Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee for governor, torched Spanberger’s vow to not assist the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown.

“Abigail Spanberger voted against the Laken Riley Act after Laken was murdered by an illegal immigrant,” Earle-Sears wrote on the social media platform X on Wednesday. “Now she says her first act as governor will be to stop State Police from helping ICE.”

“Abigail puts criminals over Virginians,” Earle-Sears continued. “Every. Single. Time.”

Earle-Sears has previously blasted Spanberger for organizing a campaign rally in April during which Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid participated. The northern Virginia sheriff has refused to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Youngkin also excoriated Spanberger in a post on the social media platform X on Wednesday.

“In her very first act as governor, @SpanbergerForVA promises to turn Virginia into a sanctuary state for dangerous illegal immigrants,” Youngkin wrote. “@winwithwinsome promises to keep dangerous criminals off our streets.”

“Could the choice be any more clear, Virginia?” Youngkin added. “Your safety is on the ballot this November.”

The race between Spanberger and Earle-Sears has significantly tightened ahead of the final sprint of the November gubernatorial contest, according to a Republican-aligned Co/efficient poll released Wednesday.

The pollster found that Earle-Sears trails Spanberger 43% to 48% with 7% of voters undecided. The survey of 1,025 likely voters was conducted from Aug. 23 to Aug. 26 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.06%.

“Earle-Sears is nipping at Spanberger’s heels in a race the Democrats thought they had in the bag,” a press release from the Earle-Sears campaign touting the survey’s results states.

A spokesperson for Spanberger did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Democratic Gov Nominee Says One Of Her First Actions In Office Would Be Scrapping ICE Cooperation
Abigail Spanberger said one of her first moves as Virginia’s governor would be rolling back law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

https://dailycaller.com/2025/08/27/abigail-spanberger-virginia-governor-ice-immigration-enforcement

Daily Beast: U.S. Navy Wants to Hold a Massive Boat Parade to Cheer Up Trump

Posted on by
Reply

The president wants all the ships.

The U.S. Navy is reportedly planning a lavish parade of its own after a multimillion-dollar military parade earlier this year left President Donald Trump feeling flat.

Trump hosted the military’s largest parade in decades in Washington, D.C., on June 14 to mark 250 years of the U.S. Army—and also, conveniently, his own 79th birthday.

As well as “No Kings” protests against Trump across the country to coincide with the military anniversary event that cost taxpayers $30 million, footage of “lackluster” soldiers marching out of step went viral. Photos suggested that the president rested his eyes at one point during his birthday party. Crowd figures were also less than impressive.

A new report in The Wall Street Journal has intel from the president’s administration that a do-over parade could be in the works—this time taking place at sea.

Trump told his aides that he was disappointed with the marching in the June event, according to the Journal, and was hoping the Navy could deliver a grander celebration.

The president is reportedly “hoping for a shimmering spectacle with seacraft,” the Journal noted.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the U.S. Navy for comment.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung claimed “over 250,000″ patriots turned up for the June 14 parade, but significant gaps in the crowd suggested attendance fell far short of predictions.

Meanwhile, ‘No Kings’ protests around the country on Trump’s birthday became one of the biggest-ever single-day protests in America, drawing over 4 million people in 820 locations.

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel aired footage of what looked like the president nodding off during his parade. “There’s Sleepy Don taking it all in,” he said. “And in fairness, that’s as close as he gets to be able to sleep with his wife, so he took the opportunity.”

Great! Now the self-obsessed narcissistic Child King wants a boat show. 🙁

U.S. Navy Wants to Hold a Massive Boat Parade to Cheer Up Trump
The president wants all the ships.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-navy-wants-to-hold-a-massive-boat-parade-to-cheer-up-trump

Newsweek: Trump admin plans new time limit for foreign students in US

Posted on by
Reply

The Trump administration is proposing new four-year time limits on student, exchange and media visa holders, as part of plans to tighten up immigration rules.

In a proposal filed in the Federal Register on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced its intention to modify the F, J, and I visa categories.

“If enacted, this rule would create additional uncertainty, intrude on academic decision-making, increase bureaucratic hurdles and risk deterring international students, researchers and scholars from coming to the United States,” Miriam Feldblum, president and CEO of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, told Newsweek.

Why It Matters

Student visa holders have been a focus of immigration enforcement under the second Trump administration, with many having their legal status revoked and interviews for new applicants paused for several weeks. This latest proposal revisits a plan from President Donald Trump‘s first term.

What To Know

The DHS said that, unlike many other visa types, F, J, and I visas currently do not have time limits; instead, they require holders to adhere to the rules of their respective visas. Under the new plan, four-year limits would be imposed, aimed at stopping lengthy visa overstays.

The three categories cover foreign students, exchange visitors—such as summer workers, au pairs, and medical students—and those in foreign media.

The DHS memo stated that part of the reason for seeking the new limits was due to the “dramatic rise” in these visas, with F visas (used by international students) increasing from 260,000 in 1981 to 1.6 million in 2023.

J visas (used by some students, academics, medical professionals, au pairs and other such visitors) experienced a 250 percent increase between 1985 and 2023, rising from 141,200 to approximately 500,000, while I visas (for media) also doubled during the same period.

The DHS stated that this posed a challenge to its agencies when it came to monitoring individuals in the U.S. with such visa types, and that a fixed-term approach would be more effective in managing immigration numbers.

For student visa holders, under the new proposal, they would have to either apply for a change in status at the end of their term (i.e., for an H-1B or other work-based visa) or ask for an extension of their F-1 visa if they have not completed their studies. Similar parameters would apply to I and J visa holders.

The Trump administration’s efforts to withdraw legal status for students and hold up interviews at the embassy stage have faced and lost to legal challenges in recent months, with student and exchange visitor advocates arguing that these programs deliver significant benefits to the U.S. economy.

What People Are Saying

Miriam Feldblum, president and CEO of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, told Newsweek: “The proposed rule is yet another unnecessary and counterproductive measure targeting international students and scholars. It would require them to repeatedly submit additional applications just to remain in the country and fulfill requirements of their academic programs—imposing significant burdens on students, colleges and universities, and federal agencies alike.”

A DHS Spokesperson, in a statement shared with Newsweek: “For too long, past Administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the U.S. virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing untold amount of taxpayer dollars, and disadvantaging U.S. citizens. This new proposed rule would end that abuse once and for all by limiting the amount of time certain visa holders are allowed to remain in the U.S., easing the burden on the federal government to properly oversee foreign students and history.”

What Happens Next

DHS will now welcome comments and feedback on the proposals. When the idea was floated in 2020, over 32,000 comments were submitted, many of which were against the idea, which was subsequently scrapped by the Biden administration.

This makes zero sense to me. The longer students are here, the more educated & skilled they presumably become, and we should want them to stay longer … perhaps permanently.

Trump admin plans new time limit for foreign students in US
The changes would also affect exchange visitors and foreign media with temporary visas.

https://www.newsweek.com/student-exchange-visa-changes-proposal-trump-administration-2120179

Alternet: ‘Not joking’: Ex-Trump official warns he privately ‘waxes poetic’ about dictators he admires

Posted on by
Reply

During a White House press conference in late August, President Donald Trump addressed accusations that he is acting like a “dictator.”

Trump told reporters, “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator.’ I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense, and a smart person.”

One of Trump’s targets is Miles Taylor, who served the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during Trump’s first presidency but is now an outspoken critic. The Never Trump conservative, who is facing a federal investigation, regards Trump as a dangerous authoritarian.

During a Wednesday morning, August 27 appearance on CNN, Taylor explained why he is zeroing on the line, “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator.'”

“Look at what Trump said five years ago,” Taylor told CNN’s John Berman. “He said: When you are president of the United States, the authority is total — and that’s how it’s gotta be. And five years later, he’s still saying things that would indicate his interest in being a dictator. Now, I will tell you, having spent time personally with the man in his first Trump Administration, he would wax poetic in private about foreign dictators he admired. He was jealous of their ability to exert total control over their populations.”

Taylor continued, “That is the president of the United States we are seeing now. And he is not joking.”

Taylor was serving as DHS chief of staff under then-Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen when he anonymously wrote a New York Times op-ed that was published on September 5, 2018 and headlined, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” Years later, Taylor came out as the person who wrote it.

Taylor told Berman, “When he said he was going to be America’s retribution, people said no, he’s joking about that. When he said he was going to lock people up, people said he was joking. When he said he was going to send in the troops, people said nah, he’s joking. He’s doing all of those things, John.”

Watch the full video below or at this link.

‘Not joking’: Ex-Trump official warns he privately ‘waxes poetic’ about dictators he admires

https://www.alternet.org/trump-miles-taylor-cnn