On Wednesday, President Donald Trump took the unprecedented step of signing an executive order that specifically targets Miles Taylor, a former official in his administration. The order revokes any security clearances Taylor may have held, while also directing the Department of Justice to look into his conduct. This move raises concerns about the growing overlap between the president's power and federal investigative authority, which has typically been kept separate.

Miles Taylor, who worked as chief of staff for then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, gained notoriety for his anonymous op-ed in the New York Times, along with a book detailing attempts by administration officials to mitigate Trump's more impulsive tendencies. White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf remarked that the action is a response to Taylor's past activities involving classified information, even though his writings do not contain any alleged classified material.

During the Oval Office announcement, Trump dismissed Taylor’s book "A Warning" as fiction and expressed frustration that Taylor was employed by CNN after publicly identifying himself as the author. He stressed that such actions could undermine the presidency and stated that he would be open to the same concerns if they were directed at a Democratic president. Trump went as far as declaring that he believed Taylor was guilty of treason, vowing that the investigation would reveal more about Taylor's behavior.

In response to the executive order and as someone who had foreseen possible repercussions from Trump, Taylor maintained that dissent is not illegal or treasonous, and he criticized Trump's actions as a clear demonstration of his own points about the growing authoritarian nature of the administration. Taylor expressed his concern for the direction in which America is heading and remarked on the irony of Trump’s approach to his dissenting voice.