ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images
- Jason Miller said Trump is “truly relaxed” after the White House, in an interview with The Times of London.
- Miller said Trump could start a third party if GOP senators convict him in his impeachment trial.
- His claims are contradicted by other reports on Trump’s post-presidency mood.
- Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.
Jason Miller, Donald Trump’s former campaign strategist, said in an interview with The Times of London that the ex-president “feels happier” than he did in the White House and is glad not to be on social media anymore.
After leaving office, Miller’s picture of Trump’s mood is contradicted by other reports coming out of the president’s post-presidency home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
One source close to the president told The Daily Beast last week that the former president is so frustrated by being banned from Twitter that he is writing out insults and tweets and trying to get aides to send them.
Yet Miller insisted that Trump is the most relaxed he’s seen him.
“This was the first time in years that I saw the president truly relaxed,” he told the Times. “Only 45 other people in US history have experienced what it is like to have the world on their shoulders . . . and to be able to exhale, knowing that it’s not all on you for the first time in four years.”
Miller worked with Trump as a communications advisor during his successful 2016 presidential campaign and took on a senior strategist role in Trump’s unsuccessful reelection campaign last year.
In the interview, Miller also addressed Trump’s second impeachment trial to convict the president on charges that he incited an insurrection by goading supporters to attack the Capitol on January 6.
“There is no real scenario in which he is going to be convicted, so the pressure is completely off,” Miller told the publication of the impeachment trial.
Miller said that he believes his former boss “would like to” run for the presidency again in 2024.
He warned Republicans that if they vote to convict Trump, he could gear up plans to start a third party and tear apart the GOP.
“There hasn’t been any active planning for a third party and it will remain that way,” said Miller. “The only way it could become more serious is if Republican senators were to vote to convict President Trump.
“I don’t think Republican senators want to tear the party apart, so let’s go and dismiss this second impeachment witch- hunt.”
Republican lawmakers are reportedly concerned that if they oppose Trump, he could turn his supporters against them and back primary challengers to oust them from office.
Unlike other former presidents, who keep a relatively low profile after leaving office, Trump has spoken out to praise allies in the GOP as he seeks to retain his hold over the party and mitigate the prospects of an impeachment conviction.
Among them is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who Trump has expressed support for as she comes under pressure for past comments supporting bizarre right-wing conspiracy theories and violence against Democrats.
He is also reportedly determined to take revenge on Republicans who’ve turned against him, including Rep. Liz Cheney, the 3rd most powerful Republican in Congress, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the January 13 House of Representatives vote.
Miller said Trump remains the most powerful force in Republican politics.
“It’s not even close. He is the one who has remade the party and brought new people in,” said Miller.
“The Republican Party now shares his ideals when it comes to trade, foreign policy, and being an inclusive party that saw record African-American and Latino support.”
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