Ex-Trump Official Warns Why Dictator Talk Isn't A Joke: 'He Would Wax Poetic In Private...'

Miles Taylor talked of Donald Trump's jealousy.

Former Trump first-term official Miles Taylor on Tuesday urged Americans to take Donald Trump’s dictator talk seriously, noting the president’s admitted envy of authoritarian leaders and his continued targeting of perceived enemies.

“Having spent time personally with the man in the first Trump administration, he would wax poetic in private about foreign dictators he admired,” Taylor, who in 2018 penned the famous “anonymous” op-ed against Trump while serving as Homeland Security chief of staff, told CNN’s John Berman.

Trump “was jealous of their ability to exert total control over their populations,” said Taylor, who himself earlier this year became the subject of a Department of Justice investigation after Trump claimed his conduct while working for the government could be “properly characterized as treasonous.”

Taylor’s warning followed Trump’s recent claim that “a lot of people [are] saying maybe we’d like a dictator,” before insisting he was not one.

Asked by Berman about that Trump remark, Taylor replied: “Look at what Trump said five years ago. He said when you are president of the United States the authority is total, and that’s how it’s got to be. And five years later he’s still saying things that would indicate his interest in being a dictator.”