Stephen Miller spilled Trump's dark plans with 6-word post: column

A single six-word message from one of President Donald Trump's most powerful aides has become the focus of a new opinion piece warning about the administration's intentions ahead of the November midterms.

Writing in the I Paper, Washington-based commentator Simon Marks pointed to a post that Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller published on X on Wednesday: "Change the voters, change the country." Marks characterized the message as one of the darkest threats to American democracy articulated by a senior US official, arguing it revealed an effort to tilt the rules in Republicans' favor.

"President Donald Trump’s chief ideologue, Stephen Miller, is no longer even trying to hide his determination to game the outcome of America’s midterm elections in November," warned Marks.

Miller's post landed shortly after Trump clashed with Republican senators behind closed doors over the SAVE America Act, a voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bill the White House is pushing. The hour-long lunch, Marks wrote, turned into a shouting match between Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy, with the president tearing into his own party for backing a measure earlier in the week to limit his war powers in Iran.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told reporters Trump was "mad as a murder hornet," while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) described the discussion as "spirited" and "candid." Marks wrote that Cassidy had insisted, "I'm not going to be bullied," before later reversing his Iran vote.

Marks tied the episode to Trump's decision to cancel a signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing bill, which the president said he would withhold until the elections bill passed. Critics warn the administration's broader push to control elections is aimed at the midterms, with Democrats arguing the legislation would disenfranchise minority voters.

Marks wrote that Trump's conduct reflected his party's dimming prospects in November.

"His blind rage on Wednesday reflects his party’s dimming prospects in November, and his own desperate determination to do whatever it takes to bully, bluster and bludgeon his own party into supporting his efforts to rig the election," warned Marks.