Donald Trump could make a major administration change ahead of the midterms to ease voter woes, an analyst has claimed.
Stephen Miller's hard line on immigration policy is considered unsettling for voters, according to an internal document seen by The Wall Street Journal and noted by analyst Greg Sargent. The New Republic columnist suggested the president may have been swayed by Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to soften the admin's stance.
Sargent believes Trump is set to throw Miller "under the bus" as a result.
Sargent wrote, "Trump wants to 'lower the profile of his mass deportation effort,' the Journal reveals. He wants voters to think the targets of these deportations are 'bad guys,' not noncriminal undocumented residents.
"He wants less visibility for ICE raids in cities, fewer public confrontations with local officials, and less public talk about “mass deportations,” which, he now grasps, are hideously unpopular.
"Tellingly, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles now sees deportations as a liability for the midterms, per the report," Sargent wrote. "That Trump is siding with her on the politics here is a sign of political panic and a rebuke to Miller, who apparently delights in flaunting the administration’s vicious sadism and overt white nationalism — and seems certain that latent majorities are quietly cheering along.
"To be clear, this report deserves serious skepticism. It very much bears watching whether ICE will actually end up deprioritizing the removal of noncriminal immigrants. Trump mostly wants the appearance of a pivot: According to the Journal, he wants a focus on 'criminals' in GOP 'messaging.'"
Whether Trump removes Miller from his position is yet to be seen, but Sargent suggests that, until the president does so, it will be hard to soften immigration policy.
He wrote: "Trump can dress this up with spin about targeting 'criminals' all he likes. But until all the ethnonationalist, civilizational-emergency-mongering nonsense is exorcised, the deeper problem will fester.
"Trump believes all those ideas himself, but the depth of his commitment to them has never been all that clear. One doubts he’ll be so inclined, but should he ever want to end this madness, only one move on his part—a big personnel move—can truly put an end to it."