Conservative Miles Taylor was serving in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) when Donald Trump, during his first presidency, floated the idea of the U.S. buying Greenland — an idea that, according to Taylor, sounded ridiculous to Trump Administration officials at the time. But now, during his second presidency, Trump is dead-serious about acquiring Greenland and isn't ruling out the possibility of taking the Arctic island by force.

These days, Taylor is an outspoken Never Trump conservative. During an interview with National Public Radio's (NPR) Michel Martin, Taylor was asked if Trump is without guardrails during his second presidency as he pushes for U.S. annexation of Greenland and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carry out a militarized operation in Minneapolis.

"Well, here's the thing: Donald Trump always says controversial things," Taylor told Martin. "And then, aides come out and say that he's joking. But they're not usually jokes. These are trial balloons, and if there's too much blowback, he'll wait until a period where he can move something forward. And if there's not, he'll move forward on the controversial idea anyway. And people will see it's not a joke. Greenland is one of those things."

Taylor recalls that he first heard Trump talking about Greenland in 2017, and he is now "hell-bent" on taking it over.

"Any time he was talked down off the ledge," Taylor told Martin, "it was because of sensible folks around him…. Another thing he pushed for during the first term was invocation of the Insurrection Act…. He saw it as the apex of his power, and he has been looking for an excuse to implement it. The only difference is, in his second term, he has brought on people who are willing to carry out those orders."

When Martin noted that Trump seems more "unfiltered" during his second presidency, she got no argument from Taylor — who noted that this time, he is surrounded by loyalists who don't question him.

Taylor told Martin, "The man is drunk on power. He is deeply attracted to demonstrations of power."

Listen to NPR's full interview with Miles Taylor at this link.