In light of the elevation of Stephen Miller to White House Chief of Staff, and the rumors about UFC President and CEO Dana White being offered the position of press secretary, I keep seeing people saying “Trump has learned nothing” from the election.
But Miller’s promotion isn’t about trying to learn anything new. First of all, Miller’s predecessor, Susie Wiles, had to go. Trump needed someone, other than himself, to blame for the election debacle.
Wiles was a convenient target. Yes, he’s blaming Republicans in general for the outcome, but that excuse only goes so far. After all, he anointed and campaigned for a bunch of those sorry losers. Whether Wiles or someone else recommended those candidates, Trump went along with the recommendations. And anyway, does anyone really think he pushed for Paxton over Cornyn because someone else recommended that he do so? Trump believed (largely wrongly) that Cornyn wasn’t sufficiently loyal, and, like a Mafia don, Trump wanted revenge. Paxton was the guy if Cornyn wasn’t going to be the nominee.
Moreover, blaming Republicans in general, or even just the losers, for the election, would be unsatisfying. Trump knows on some level that the election is the result of American voters rejecting him. Wiles (like the other White House aides who no doubt will be fired soon) is a convenient, readily-available, short-term target for Trump’s rage. Firing her is immediate gratification, but there’s a longer-term revenge project.
One other thing about Wiles before I turn to the longer-term revenge project. Wiles is just one of the many senior Administration women to leave the Administration. Her departure lets Trump, Miller, Hegseth, Kennedy, Treasury Secretary Bessent, and Attorney General Blanche, among others, have the boys-only club they’ve probably been dreaming of. I can just imagine a sign going up on the door of the Oval Office that says “No Gurlz Aloud.” (I suspect that Natalie Harp will be permitted entry to bring the boys their burgers and ice cream.)
You might agree that Wiles was going to be the fall gal, but argue that Wiles getting fired is not the big story. She might have had to go anyway because of the corruption allegations recently directed her way. After all, she almost certainly wasn’t giving Trump a cut of the proceeds.
The real story, you might say, is his promotion of Stephen Miller. Miller represents–indeed, was one of the principal architects of–everything that voters rejected on election day.
Exactly.
The sheer hatred for Miller that is shared not only by the public at large but apparently also by many elected Republicans is exactly why Miller is the perfect choice in Trump’s eyes. This is probably not because Trump thinks hostility toward Miller will deflect some of the hostility that has been directed to Trump.
No, it’s more likely that Trump promoted Miller because America hates him and promoting him will be hugely upsetting. More importantly, Trump no doubt views Miller as an agent of chaos and destruction–an arsonist with a lighter, a can of gasoline, and a pile of hay in a wooden barn. Whatever diagnosis of Trump’s mental disorder(s) you happen to prefer, it’s pretty clear that if you piss off Trump, he will take revenge and do so in extremely disproportionate ways. He’s like the jilted spouse who, when he discovers that he can’t have the dog or the kids, kills them so that his ex can’t have them either.
America, we are the ex, and Miller is the contract killer, the gun, the can of gasoline. Take your pick (or come up with your own metaphor; this can be a participatory activity).
True, Trump initially seemed to have dissociated from the election: witness Trump’s bizarre reflecting pool “closing argument” the day before the election in which he went on at length about the repairs to the pool, largely ignoring the upcoming election. Witness the even more bizarre gathering at the under-construction ballroom the day after the election, in which he also largely ignored the election.
But Trump has gathered himself and has chosen his course–although casting his move as a product of choice, rather than a reflexive emotional reaction, is probably giving the decision too much dignity.
So it is folly to think that Trump might have “learned something” from the election or to be surprised that he didn’t. Trump has no interest in doing better, because he thinks he’s already perfect. If the great majority of the rest of the country doesn’t agree with him, so much the worse for the country. In Trump’s eyes, Trump is perfect, and Miller is the perfect guy for the job.