Trump’s latest moves prove he is on a path to self-destruction

WASHINGTON DC – In the days since his historic drubbing at the hands of the American electorate, Donald Trump has wasted no time doubling down on the agenda that voters so roundly rejected last Tuesday. Meanwhile, any Republican hoping that Trump might spend a few days questioning the reasons for his party’s defeat, before recalibrating his approach to governance, are now on notice: the leopard’s spots are not going to change. Friday afternoon’s announcement of Stephen Miller’s elevation to the position of White House chief of staff represented a clarion signal that Trump is circling the wagons. Miller is far and away the most extreme ideological figure ever to sit in a US president’s inner circle. On Monday he becomes Trump’s official gatekeeper, succeeding long-term adviser Susie Wiles. Wiles at least occasionally tried to rein her boss in – Miller will only spur him on. Trump’s post-election moves also included the suggestion on Saturday that he had offered the post of White House press secretary to Dana White, the president and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In a bizarre social media post, Trump urged White and six UFC fighters to join the White House communications team. The post may have been an effort at humour – an unnamed aide said afterwards it was a joke – but it came at a point when very few Republicans can even manage a smile. In fact, for some of those considering their own run at the White House in 2028, the President’s latest moves are deeply unwelcome.Vice President JD Vance – who publicly stated last week that Republican losses were heavily tied to Trump’s decision to wage war on Iran – is already in a difficult spot. He has made no secret of his desire to run for the nation’s top office, but any campaign of his will constantly operate at the mercy of Trump’s unpredictable and quixotic moves. JD Vance has blamed the midterm election losses on Trump’s war with Iran (Photo: Tom Brenner/Pool via Reuters) The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that some of Vance’s advisers are already getting cold feet, urging him to sit out the 2028 race and save himself for a later electoral cycle. It also reported that some “deep-pocketed donors” are saying they’re unwilling to back a candidate from within the Trump administration. Vance’s inability to prevent his home state of Ohio from falling into Democratic Party hands last Tuesday was likely a final straw for some. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also walking a fine line. Last Thursday he dismissed reports that he is planning to depart the administration to launch his own presidential campaign, but while Rubio claims to be planning to remain in his post, it would be much easier for him to resign and go it alone, after a suitable interval has passed. The arrival of Miller is likely to make both men’s jobs far more challenging – not even considering the idea of pugilist White as the voice of the White House. Miller is the architect of Trump’s policy of mass deportations and is such an inflammatory figure that sometimes even Trump has asked him not to speak at White House events, for fear of igniting further controversy. “I’d love to have him come up and explain his true feelings,” Trump said of Miller at an October 2025 event focused on the administration’s efforts to crack down on crime. “Maybe not his truest feelings. That might be going a little too far,” he then joked. Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s hardline immigration policy is taking over as White House Chief of Staff (Photo: Eric Lee/Getty Images) On Friday, the White House released a video marking Miller’s promotion, with the new chief of staff saying: “This is a struggle for the survival of America. It’s that serious. It’s that real.” And while Trump has suggested that he might be willing to work with his Democrat opponents after they take control of Congress in January, Miller has previously called them “communists”, “Marxists” and members of a “domestic extremist organisation”. Hakeem Jeffries, in line to become the next Speaker of the House, has called for Miller to be fired immediately, describing him as a “dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands”. All of this comes at a time when many Republicans are wondering what comes next, and how the party moves on from the divisive Trump era. Last week, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida – another potential presidential aspirant – told reporters that the midterms were “an extinction-level event for Republicans” and predicted “this is really going to have an impact [for] 2 years, 4 years, 6 years, maybe even longer before Republicans could exercise unified control in Washington again like we’ve enjoyed over the last two years”. After the last week – and seeing who is being asked to step in to help lead Trump’s White House for the remainder of his time in office – the fear is that the damage is far from done. Trump has seemingly led his band of merry sycophants into the political wilderness. He shows no sign of being willing or able to navigate them out.