Targeted by Trump: ‘Every day I’m ready for a car of government agents to carry me away’
Miles Taylor, who worked for Donald Trump during his first administration, and exposed his “inability” to serve in an anonymous article, tells The News Agents about his ongoing battle with the president.
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In brief…
- Donald Trump issued an executive order against Miles Taylor in April 2025, which Taylor says has resulted in violent threats and enormous personal loss.
- Despite the challenges of being on the president’s “blacklist”, Taylor says he intends to fight back – alongside other targets such as James Comey and John Bolton.
- He says he has become a victim of the behaviour he was trying to expose when he wrote the anonymous New York Times article about his experiences in Trump’s administration in 2018.
What’s the story?
Donald Trump has suggested Miles Taylor is guilty of treason – a crime punishable by death in America.
His crime? A 2018 New York Times article, written anonymously by Miles while working for the first Trump administration, titled 'I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration'.
Seven years later, Trump is seeking to punish Taylor for his actions – along with the likes of James Comey and John Bolton – simply for standing up and speaking out against the president.
In April 2025, Trump signed an executive order revoking all security clearance from Taylor, and demanded investigations into him, and another former staffer, Chris Krebs.
Since the order was signed, Taylor has lost his business, faced violent threats and had to obtain restraining orders from MAGA supporters Taylor claims wish to "carry out the President's edicts on his behalf."
Taylor tells The News Agents every knock on the door has become a source of "daily anxiety" for him and his family.
"When the postman comes down the driveway, when an Uber driver comes down the driveway, when the Amazon delivery person arrives – every single time you think it's a car full of government agents ready to arrest you in front of your wife and daughter and carry you away," Taylor tells Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel.
He says being on Trump's blacklist "consumes your life", due to constant fear for his own safety.
Taylor and his lawyers intend to fight Trump on the grounds of selective and vindictive persecution under the 14th amendment, which states that you cannot have the law enforced against you for biased political reasons.
Trump has spoken openly, on social media, for years about his intentions to go after Comey, Taylor and John Bolton – and his tweets and other social media posts will form part of their legal battles against Trump and the executive order.
"Hopefully, that will be helpful in the courts, but they can destroy your life before you ever get that opportunity to go make that case in the courts," he adds.
Why did he write the anonymous article?
In Taylor's 2018 NYT article, he spoke about Trump as a "man without character", and one who was unable to do the job of president.
"My worry was, if Americans re-elected this man, he would be vindictive enough to create a federal government willing to accuse private citizens of the highest crime in the United States merely for criticising the president," Taylor says.
"I became an example of that."
"I spent a lot of my time after I quit the administration saying that Donald Trump was abusing his power for his own self interest, and ironically, what he has done in response to that is abuse his power for his own self interest to go after me and his other enemies."
Taylor says he remains a "lifelong Republican", and says he wants a "Successful, strong and conservative president".
But he says working with Trump, his job became telling the leader of America not to do illegal, or unconstitutional things with his power.
"That is the fundamental job of every public servant who swears an oath to the Constitution," he adds.
"You're supposed to speak truth to power."
He says other members of the administration "regularly pushed back" against the president when he wanted to use his power to commit illegal acts.
What next for Miles Taylor's fight against Trump?
Taylor says many people have advised him to leave the US, but Taylor says he will remain to fight Trump and the executive order in the courts.
"Over the course of the past seven years, this guy has taken from me a home, two jobs, a former marriage, my personal security and my life savings," he says.
"The last two things he can take from me are my country and my life. I can't control the second one, but I think I can have a say on the first.
"This was not my plan, but I'm going to spend the next three and a half years, every single day, committed to shining a light on what is happening. That's going to be my full time job until this is over one way or another."