In 2018, former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff of Staff Miles Taylor wrote an anonymous opinion piece in The New York Times from inside the Trump administration. He revealed publicly what Trump’s cabinet was saying privately: the President was dangerously unfit for office. Since then, he has unmasked himself in an effort to urge voters not to reelect the most dangerous man in America in 2020 and launched the largest alliance of ex-officials in United States history to take down the president who appointed them. In the world of national security, the world Taylor comes from, there’s a term to describe the unintended consequences of our actions, of failing to see what’s around the corner if we make the wrong choice: BLOWBACK.
In BLOWBACK: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump (Atria Books; Hardcover; On Sale: July 18, 2023; $30.00; ISBN 9781668015988), the author behind the “eye-popping” (CNN) #1 New York Times bestseller, A Warning, presents an urgent look at how our deeply divided nation is setting the stage for Donald Trump’s political resurgence.
BLOWBACK provides never-before-told anecdotes and first-person interviews with Trump’s closest aides to illustrate how a deeply divided nation is setting the stage for the resurgence of Trumpism. It is the first-ever portrait of what a second term would like look under a vindictive, twice-impeached, unconstrained Commander in Chief.
Topics:
- Newest book, BLOWBACK (coming out July 18th), provides never-before-told anecdotes and first-person interviews with Trump’s closest aides to illustrate how a deeply divided nation is setting the stage for the resurgence of Trumpism. It is the first-ever portrait of what a second term would like look under a vindictive, twice-impeached, unconstrained Commander in Chief.
In an interview, Miles Taylor can discuss the threat of the next Trump gleaned from conversations with politicians, former aides, staffers and officials:
- The rational faction of the GOP has been put down by the radical one, and the conditions are right for the Next Trump to emerge. Worse still for our democracy, when he or she enters the White House, the guardrails will be weaker than ever.
- A MAGA congressional majority will use impeachment as a weapon to take out Democratic rivals.
- The culture wars will be the primary legislative agenda—“guns, gays, and girls.”
- The most influential GOP group attempting to staff up the next Republican presidency will be the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), described by some as MAGA’s “White House in waiting.” Many of the group’s 150-plus staff members are former officials in the Trump administration, and its American Leadership Initiative is dedicated to filling the next GOP administration with MAGA-friendly figures.
- Ex-Trump aides predict widespread career resignations under another MAGA presidency. The result will be a younger civil service without the knowledge, experience, or wherewithal to run government agencies.
- Former Trump aides declare next MAGA President will use spy agencies against enemies. It will be a revenge machine. The MAGA movement has paved the way for a politicized intelligence community.
- The White House will make life miserable for undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The next MAGA White House will cut off immigrant kids from education system.
- Ex-Trump advisors predict “civil war” if another MAGA President is elected. There will be a legal state of war between the federal and state governments. When it comes to dividing America, the Next Trump will probably receive help from the outside. Our foreign adversaries are taking advantage of political and cultural polarization in the U.S.
- The Trump Presidency unleased domestic terror “pandemic.” The Trump presidency unleashed a domestic extremism pandemic that swept the country. It lay the predicate for future civil unrest under the Next Trump.
In an interview, Miles Taylor can discuss Trump administration topics such as:
- Why and how chief of staff John Kelly quit
- Trump’s sexism and berating of female leaders within the administration is commonplace
- Behind closed doors members of Republican Party (including Kevin McCarthy and Mike Pompeo) agreed Trump was not representative of entire GOP
- Trump’s willingness to forgo aid for veterans
- Donald Trump denied Moscow interference in the 2016 election. Trump was lying to the American people. Taylor knew because he helped brief Trump on the threat days earlier.
- Trump tweeted that he had made a deal with the Kremlin leader to jointly form an “impenetrable cyber unit” to protect elections. Let me clarify: Trump wanted to cooperate on anti-hacking with the very same man who’d just hacked the 2016 vote in the United States. It was like agreeing to host an anger management class with a serial murderer.
- Trump’s shortcomings stood out particularly during emergencies. Trump wanted hurricane victims to “ride it out.”
- Aides rewrote national security memos in Trump vernacular to get his attention.
- Trump offered pardons to law enforcement officers to break the law at the border, “We are full,” Trump told a border official. “Tell the judges we are completely full—‘the bins are full’—and we can’t let anyone else in.” “Seriously, keep them all out,” Trump countered. “Don’t let anymore in. If you go to jail for it, I’ll pardon you.”
- After outing himself as the “Anonymous” critic of the President, Taylor was forced to shuttle between locations and take on a bodyguard amidst death threats. An alcohol and pill addiction led to a drug overdose and to Taylor nearly losing his life in a Virginia safe house on election night 2020.
Connect with Miles on LinkedIn
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David Nevins is president & CEO of Nevins & Associates, a highly regarded strategic communications company and proactive public relations partner. The firm’s regional and national client base is a unique mix of organizations across a variety of industries including: healthcare, professional service firms, finance, not-for-profits, distributors, state agencies, national media companies, technology, political and grassroots campaigns, real estate development, sporting events, and more.
With more than 30 years of experience in marketing, public relations, and community and government relations, David is a talented and seasoned executive. Prior to founding Nevins & Associates in 1983, David served as the Director of Marketing for both Towson University and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, he was tapped by the CEO of Comcast to employ his marketing expertise as President of the company’s regional sports network, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. David is a Past President of the Board of Governors for the Center Club and is a former Chairman of the Board of Regents for the University System of Maryland, a position to which he was appointed by the Governor of Maryland. David has chaired the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission and the Maryland Higher Education Loan Corporation, served as President of both the Jewish National Fund and the Towson Business Association and was a member of the PNC Bank board.
David is highly involved in the business, civic, and political communities, and his many years of active leadership in numerous organizations have built a network of contacts that he regularly puts to use for the firm’s clients. For more information, visit www.nevinspr.com.
