Ex-Trump official says he's trying to be a 'mob boss' through 'egregious acts of violence'

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MS NOW host Nicolle Wallace and former Trump administration official Miles Taylor on MS NOW on December 9, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via MS NOW / YouTube)

One former high-ranking official who served in President Donald Trump's first administration has a theory behind his controversial boat strikes in the Caribbean Sea: He wants to emulate TV mafiosos.

During a Tuesday segment on MS NOW's "Deadline: White House," Miles Taylor – who is best known for authoring the anonymous 2018 New York Times op-ed about being part of the "resistance inside the Trump administration" — told host Nicolle Wallace that Trump wanted to conduct similar strikes during his first presidency, but was prevented from doing so by advisors. Taylor asserted that Trump has known for at least seven years that blowing up boats in international waters violated traditional rules of engagement.

"We told them thatthat would be illegal. I didn'thave to go to lawyers to askthat question. It would beobviously, obviously illegal toblow up unarmed civilians inboats off the coast of the United States," Taylor said. "Now, Stephen Miller denied that thatexchange happened. And then, aswe found out in the past fewweeks, he has been one of thekey architects, reportedly, ofthis policy. So those denialsnow look pretty silly inhindsight."

"They cannot use lethalforce against someone who isnot using lethal force againstthem. That's when that term gotseared into his brain. Andthat's why I think you've heardtrump and especially hisdefense secretary, Pete Hegseth,in the second term, talk aboutloosening the rules ofengagement," he continued. "He was frustratedthat he heard it so much in thefirst term. He saw it as arestriction. He doesn't want toabide by those rules this time.And apparently, even if thatmeans committing murder on thehigh seas."

When Wallace asked Taylor point-blank why the president wanted to "blow up boats," Taylor offered a frank assessment that Trump wanted to "intimidate others." He then compared the president to typical depictions of organized crime figures in pop culture, and suggested Trump sought to emulate them.

"Think about mob bosses. Inevery movie and TV show we haveseen, depicting how mob bossesstart to flex their muscle,what do they do? They carry outegregious acts of violenceagainst their enemies, to showthat they are tough, to showthat they will do anything," Taylor said. "That's the only reason I canthink that Donald Trump isdoing this, because I will tellyou from an operationalstandpoint, it is completely,totally and entirelyunnecessary."

"But worse thanthat, Nicolle, it iscounterproductive. If you wantto disassemble these networks,if you want to crack thecartels, what you need to do isroll up and arrest these low-level guys, follow them up thechain and use the intelligenceto break those organizations," he added. "Trump says he's trying to save americans from drug overdoses.Well, what he's doing isdestroying the evidence thatwould help us prosecute anddismantle those networks. He'snot helping this case. He'shurting this case. And in themeantime, to me, very clearlyis breaking the law."

Watch the segment below:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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