U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for a state visit to Britain, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., September 16, 2025. REUTERS Kevin Lamarque
Miles Taylor, who served as a security expert in President Donald Trump’s first administration before blowing the whistle on his illegal antics, says he knows how Trump reacts to defeat, and it’s not pretty. And that ugly reaction is coming fast as a series of recent thrashings push Trump to blow his top and do something irrational.
“I worked for Donald Trump and have three worrying predictions for what he'll do in October,” Taylor told the Mirror, while issuing a stark warning about what Trump might do in the weeks leading up to a November midterm trouncing.
“When Donald Trump loses, he lashes out,” said Taylor, who served as Trump’s chief of staff at the US Department of Homeland Security. “And if the past few days are any indicator, his top advisers will be getting phone calls – like we did in his first term – demanding extreme measures. Only this time, he’ll have a more compliant audience."
Trump, he said, is already reaching a boiling point because he was likely expecting his hand-picked Supreme Court to save him from his own bad policy decisions by allowing him to stifle mail-in voting with new restrictions before November. Trump himself appointed three of the justices who ruled against his administration. Now, Trump is in a flurry to derail a Republican drumming, which will put Democrats in charge of Congress and end the Congressional rubber-stamp he has largely enjoyed in his first two years.
"You can see the panic in his travel schedule," said Taylor, pointing to planned campaign appearances by Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Vance is off to Kansas to support Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, while Trump is travelling to North Carolina to salvage the campaign of former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who is facing popular Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper.
Taylor says Trump's boiling point will likely blow as political pressures mounts in October.
"The window for ‘October surprises’ – sudden moves ahead of the vote – is open," he said, suggesting three “outlandish” moves Trump may try to hassle elections: deploying ICE agents to polling places, trying to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling on mail ballots, or using FBI agents to seize votes in areas where Republican candidates may be struggling.
"I spent years watching this President absorb humiliation and somehow turn right back around and convert it into fresh recklessness," said Taylor, recalling how in his first term, Trump would snap controversial or ludicrous commands after political or legal setbacks. But back then, Taylor said Trump had sane officials and staff who pushed back against his worst orders.
"In the first term, when the phone rang after moments like these, Trump would recount his lawless fever dreams and bark immoral orders," said Taylor, "but there were still people in the building willing to say ‘absolutely not’ to the crazy idea on the other end of the line."
That phone, complete with its insane orders, is sure to be ringing again, warned Taylor, “but this time I have no idea who’s left to refuse him."