A former Trump White House official who managed crises from inside the West Wing dreads what's coming when the next disaster strikes.
Olivia Troye, who served as homeland security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence, told host Jim Acosta on Friday's episode of "The Jim Acosta Show" that she was "sickened" to think about how Stephen Miller would handle a national emergency now that President Donald Trump has tapped him as White House chief of staff.
Trump named Miller, whom Troye called the architect of the Trump administration's immigration policy, to replace outgoing chief of staff Susie Wiles days after Democrats' sweeping wins in Tuesday's midterm elections. Acosta, a former chief White House correspondent, branded the choice "a totally psychotic move."
Troye, who coordinated the COVID task force in Trump's first White House, explained that the chief of staff's office sits at the center of any federal crisis response.
"Let's just hope that we don't face a crisis again or another national emergency," she said. "The chief of staff's office calls you. They call the advisers directly. They're the ones coordinating responses."
"They are also the ones helping states at times when they're getting the phone calls saying, 'Hey, we need this. We are seeing this happen,'" she continued. "And honestly, I'm sickened to know what it will look like under Stephen Miller when there are states that are hit."
Troye noted that the new post "officially does put him in charge of driving domestic policy across the board," with Miller now running Situation Room meetings. Recalling sessions she sat through during Trump's first term, she described him as "delusional" and warned that "he'll berate people and he'll bully them."
She added that Miller has long operated with a "let the law catch up to us" mindset, pushing ahead on the assumption that "by then the damage will be done" before any lawsuit lands.
Troye also suggested Trump himself won't be watching closely. "I don't think Donald Trump is tracking half the stuff that Stephen Miller will do," she argued. "Donald Trump has basically put Stephen Miller in charge of the presidency."
Acosta likened the road ahead to "walking across a minefield," adding that "we're all going to be doing it together."
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