An analyst Friday predicted that it's likely White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Attorney General Pam Bondi will spend time behind bars.
In an opinion piece for Salon, White House columnist Brian Karem described how the Trump administration has viewed President Donald Trump falling "further into delusion" and what could happen next following his "Mean Don" remarks at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, and "word-salad monologue" at the White House press briefing room to mark his first year since his second inauguration. The change from Trump in his first administration to Trump 2.0 is noticeably different — and the people backing him could ultimately be the people he turns against.
"That Trump was more cogent and could read a room a lot better than the current version, leading one to wonder if he’s just fronting for the worst instincts of people who work for him who have far darker visions of America than even he does," Karem wrote. "Yes, I’m talking about Stephen Miller. He’s practically the deputy president right now, and every action taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement is apparently organized, orchestrated and implemented by him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Miller was in charge of the president’s vitamin E injections."
Miller's influence has only grown, as has Vice President JD Vance's sway.
"Trump is quickly becoming irrelevant to the MAGA movement," Karem wrote. "Peter Thiel’s surrogate is warming up in the bullpen, which is a potentially worse scenario than having Trump for the next 1094 days."
What Trump has done in the past could reflect what he does in the future, including who stays or goes, and whether his inner circle will remain. Karem argued that he could turn on his closest advisers, simply because he has done it before.
"The question isn’t whether we have had enough of Donald Trump. The question is what will Donald Trump do when he finally realizes that? If what Trump did to Michael Cohen is any indication, the chances of Stephen Miller, Pam Bondi and others spending time behind bars grow exponentially daily," Karem wrote. "The president knows no loyalty. If he believes it would be better to throw his confidants under a bus, his past actions show he will do so eagerly. Maybe the Democrats, along with some Republicans, should try to convince him to flush a few."