COLUMN: When Trump’s Strategist Becomes His Worst Enemy

Two U.S. Citizens Shot Dead by Federal Agents

January 2026 will be remembered as the month America changed forever. In Minneapolis, two American citizens were killed by federal immigration agents. First Renee Good, in early January, then Alex Pretti a few weeks later. The circumstances? Troubling, contradictory, and outrageous. Authorities initially claimed that Pretti was brandishing a weapon and posed a threat. Witness videos show a man holding a cell phone before being pinned to the ground and shot. The authorities claimed that Good had attempted to ram agents with her vehicle. Eyewitness accounts and footage contradict this version of events. What is certain is that two Americans were killed by their own government’s bullets, in their own country, even though they were not wanted criminals but protesters opposing ICE raids.

How did we get to this point? How can a democracy accept that its own citizens are shot dead in the street by federal agents? I think of these shattered families, these lives cut short, and I wonder if anyone in the White House still has an ounce of empathy. The answer seems to be no. Because rather than acknowledging the mistake, rather than showing humility, the Trump administration has doubled down, spread more lies, and accused the victims of being “terrorists” seeking to carry out a “massacre.” It’s obscene.

When Murdoch Dumps Trump

On February 1, 2026, the Wall Street Journal, owned by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch, published a scathing editorial. The headline? “An Electoral Shock for the GOP in Texas.” The message? Stephen Miller’s mass deportation strategy is backfiring on Republicans at the polls. “How can a Republican lose by 14 points in a safe Texas state Senate seat that President Trump had won by a 17-point margin in 2024? Answer: when there is an electoral backlash against the Trump administration, particularly its mass deportation debacles,” the newspaper wrote. The editorial points the finger at the arrest quotas imposed by Miller, which “were bound to lead to agents intruding into homes and businesses.” The newspaper warns that while immigration has historically been a winning issue for Republicans, “law enforcement gone wrong on the streets is driving away moderate voters who will determine who wins the race for Congress this year.”

When the Wall Street Journal—a bastion of American economic conservatism—sounds the alarm, we need to listen. This is not a left-wing newspaper; it is not a media outlet that is hostile to Trump on principle. It is a news organization that traditionally defends Republican interests. And even they are saying: Stop, you’re going too far; you’re losing the electorate. But Miller doesn’t care. For him, ideology takes precedence over electoral victory.

Murdoch’s Other Newspaper Calls for De-escalation

The New York Post, another publication owned by Rupert Murdoch, published an even more direct editorial on January 25. “It’s time to defuse the situation in Minneapolis, Mr. President,” the paper writes. “Not because you’re wrong to enforce immigration law, or to prosecute fraudsters who have stolen billions in federal funds—but because these law enforcement tactics won’t reverse the trend, and are instead backfiring on you. ” The Post points out that moderate voters, Hispanics, and independents who voted for Trump in the last election “are seeing American citizens die at the hands of federal agents, and are recoiling in horror.” The editorial calls on Trump to de-escalate the situation, conduct an impartial investigation, and stop the misleading rhetoric claiming that Pretti was “brandishing his gun” or was a “terrorist” seeking to carry out a “massacre.”

Two Murdoch newspapers criticizing Trump at the same time—that’s unheard of. Murdoch isn’t known for his fondness for Democrats. But even he understands that Miller is sinking the Republican ship. The problem is that Trump seems unable to part ways with his most toxic advisor. Perhaps because Miller tells him what he wants to hear. Perhaps because Trump confuses loyalty with competence.

Public Opinion Turns Against Trump

The numbers are unforgiving. A YouGov poll conducted on January 25 shows that 48% of Americans believe the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis was not justified. Another YouGov poll reveals that 52% of Americans think the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict immigration have gone too far. Too far. That’s the phrase that keeps coming up in all the opinion polls. Voters aren’t opposed to immigration control; they aren’t naive about the challenges posed by illegal immigration. But they don’t want to see American citizens shot down in the streets. They don’t want militarized raids in their neighborhoods. They don’t want an America that resembles a police state. And that is exactly what Miller’s strategy is showing them, day after day, on their TV screens and social media.

Polls don’t lie. They capture a moment, a mood, a shift. And that shift is happening right before our eyes. Trump won in 2024 by promising order, security, and control. But what people see now is chaos, violence, and arbitrariness. Miller has turned an election promise into a political nightmare.

When the Conservative Stronghold Wavers

The defeat in Texas is not an isolated incident. It is a symptom of a broader trend that has been emerging since November 2025. In special elections for the House of Representatives, there has been an average double-digit shift in favor of the Democrats. Democrats and independents are turning out in droves, while Republican turnout is plummeting. Tarrant County, in the Fort Worth area, was considered a safe seat for Republicans. Taylor Rehmet is the first Democrat to hold this seat in decades. The timing of this election, coming right after the shootings in Minneapolis, is no coincidence. It’s a message from voters: we will not accept this drift toward authoritarianism; we will not accept that Americans are dying at the hands of their own government.

Seeing Texas swing is like watching a pillar crumble. This isn’t California; this isn’t New York. This is Texas—a land of conservatism, patriotism, and respect for the rule of law. And even there, voters are saying no. They’re saying that Miller has gone too far, that Trump has lost touch with reality. This is a warning that the administration would do well to take seriously.

When Ideological Obsession Blinds Political Reason

Stephen Miller is no pragmatist. He is a die-hard ideologue, convinced that his vision of America is the only valid one, no matter the electoral cost. His immigration strategy is based on a simple idea: show strength, strike hard, never back down. But this approach ignores a fundamental reality of democratic politics: to govern, one must first win elections. And to win elections, you have to convince moderate voters—those who are neither on the far left nor the far right. Yet these voters are precisely the ones turning away from Trump because of Miller’s strategy. The images from Minneapolis, the accounts of raids on businesses and homes, the testimonies of separated families—all of this creates a toxic narrative that erodes Republican support. Miller seems incapable of understanding that politics is not an ideological war to be won at any cost, but an art of persuasion and compromise.

There is something tragic about Miller’s blindness. He believes he is serving Trump, but he is sabotaging him. He believes he is defending America, but he is dividing it. He believes he is showing strength, but he is displaying weakness—the weakness of someone who cannot adapt his strategy when the facts prove him wrong. And Trump, instead of reining him in, lets him have his way. It’s a monumental mistake.

Stick with Miller or Save the Midterm Elections

The 2026 midterm elections are fast approaching. And if the current trend continues, Republicans risk losing control of Congress. The Wall Street Journal put it plainly: “Miller’s strategy isn’t likely to work any better this year.” Republicans face a dilemma. Either they continue to support Miller’s hardline stance, at the risk of suffering an electoral rout, or they distance themselves, call for moderation, and try to win back the moderate voters who have abandoned them. Some Republican senators, such as Rand Paul, have already publicly expressed doubts about the handling of the Minneapolis crisis. Lindsey Graham has tried to defend Miller, claiming that he isn’t the problem. But the facts speak for themselves: wherever Miller’s strategy is applied, Republicans are losing ground in the polls and at the ballot box.

The Republicans are at a crossroads. They can choose blind loyalty to Miller and his radical vision, or they can choose electoral victory. They cannot have both. And if they choose Miller, they will have to face the consequences: a defeat in the midterms, a loss of influence, and perhaps even the end of the Trump era. Because American voters, even the most conservative ones, have their limits. And those limits were crossed in Minneapolis.

The President, Held Hostage by His Advisor

Donald Trump is in a tricky position. He has made immigration his flagship issue, his key campaign promise, and his political identity. Backing down now would be seen as a sign of weakness, a capitulation to the left and the media he detests. But continuing down the path laid out by Miller means heading straight for electoral disaster. Trump has always been a pragmatist, a man who knows how to sense when the wind is shifting and adjust his strategy. But this time, he seems paralyzed, unable to distance himself from Miller despite the mounting warnings. Perhaps because Miller represents the most radical segment of his base—the one that won’t tolerate any compromise. Perhaps because Trump himself still believes that standing firm will eventually pay off. But the numbers from Texas, the national polls, the editorials in Murdoch’s newspapers—everything points to this strategy failing. Trump must choose: listen to Miller or listen to the voters.

I wonder what’s going through Trump’s mind right now. Is he looking at the numbers? Does he understand that Miller is costing him the presidency? Or is he so trapped in his bubble, so surrounded by sycophants who tell him what he wants to hear, that he doesn’t realize the magnitude of the problem? Trump has survived so many scandals, so many crises, that he may think he’s invincible. But this time is different. This time, it’s not the media or the Democrats attacking him. It’s the voters who are voting with their feet.

When Ideology Devours Reason

The story of Stephen Miller and his immigration strategy is one of a shipwreck waiting to happen. A shipwreck that everyone could see coming—except those most directly involved. The warnings were there: the shootings in Minneapolis, plummeting poll numbers, the defeat in Texas, editorials in conservative newspapers. But Miller pressed on, blinded by his ideological certainty, convinced that the end justifies the means. And Trump let him do it, trapped by his own rhetoric, unable to acknowledge that his campaign promise had turned into a political nightmare. The result? An administration in crisis, a divided Republican Party, and moderate voters fleeing in droves. The 2026 midterm elections are shaping up to be catastrophic for the Republicans if nothing changes. But for anything to change, Trump would have to have the courage to part ways with Miller. And there is no indication that he is capable of doing so.

I end this column with a sense of sadness. Sadness for the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who will never see their loved ones again. Sadness for an America that is tearing itself apart, becoming divided, and losing its soul. Sadness for a president who promised to make America great again, but who is making it smaller, more petty, and more violent. Stephen Miller is not the only one responsible for this disaster. But he is its chief architect. And as long as he remains at the helm, the ship will continue to sink. Texas voters have sent a message. The question is whether anyone in the White House is still capable of hearing it.

Signed, Jacques Provost