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The former number two official in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has offered a dire prediction about America’s future should Donald Trump or another like-minded Republican succeed in winning next year’s presidential election, according to a new book by a former Trump administration homeland security aide. In Blowback, author Miles Taylor recounts an October 2020 conversation he had with Sue Gordon, a 25-year US intelligence community veteran who served as the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence from 2017 to 2019, shortly after news broke that the FBI had disrupted a plot by Michigan-based right-wing extremists to kidnap Wolverine State governor Gretchen Whitmer. According to a copy of the book obtained by The Independent ahead of its Tuesday release, Taylor recalls how the news of the kidnapping plot prompted him to telephone Ms Gordon, who he says spent “decades” at the CIA monitoring foreign governments for signs of instability, and ask the former deputy DNI how America’s “democratic stability” would be impacted by a second term in the White House for Mr Trump or a “Maga successor”. Taylor said Ms Gordon’s reply came “in the language of a seasoned intelligence analyst” who speaks “based on data from sources in the field and the uncertainty level of information they don’t have”. He added that she told him how she would “assess with ‘low confidence’ that the United States reaches its three hundredth birthday” — the projected 2076 tricentennial anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence from Great Britain — in “any recognisable form”. “People don’t trust government institutions anymore or each other, and when the world gets tumultuous, they’re more open to authoritarianism,” she said. Continuing, Taylor writes that Ms Gordon told him her reason for pessimism about the long-term viability of the US as a functioning democracy stems from the follow-on effects of four more years of Donald Trump — or someone acting with the same malevolence towards governmental institutions — atop the US executive branch. He said she told him that she does not believe a “Next Trump” would successfully smash through “every democratic guardrail,” but would “stoke unprecedented division and set off a slow turn towards despotism” in the US by “attempting” to further erode democratic norms and bring nominally independent institutions under his or her thumb. “That process can take decades to unfold. If history is any guide, though, it might come suddenly to a head, with the literal pull of a trigger — and the odds of that happening in the not-too-distant future are historically high,” he wrote. Taylor, who was chief of staff at the Trump-era Department of Homeland Security for the first three years of Mr Trump’s administration but is better known as the formerly anonymous author of a New York Times op-ed about “resistance” to the then-president inside his own government, told The Independent in a phone interview that he fears a repeat of the January 6 attack on the Capitol — but worse — should Mr Trump lose next year’s presidential election. Echoing Ms Gordon’s prediction of a long-term breakdown of the American democratic system, Taylor said the possibility of “low-level civil conflict” touched off by Mr Trump or another Republican is “higher now than it even was in that post election period in 2020”. “The muscle memory for those extremist movements has now been solidified. The networks are closer. And ... since that time, many more people, otherwise kind of normal people in small town America, have really taken the stolen election lies, QAnon, and great replacement theory as gospel, and the polling shows that a majority of your everyday Republicans believe those lies,” he said. “Add to that the fact that the country is more armed now than at any point in its history ... it is a powder keg.” Taylor added that his fears of violence go beyond a repeat of what happened in Washington nearly three years ago, pointing to the aborted plot against Ms Whitmer, the Michigan governor, as an example of what could be in store for the future. He told The Independent that he feels “the conditions are very ripe” in the US for “that sort of low-level conflict” in many parts of the country. “This is not just a Washington, DC thing — I really think we could see something a good deal worse, and part of that could also happen if a Trump or a savvier successor is reelected. And that misuse of the justice system could foment that even more,” he said. Read More Man arrested near Obama home threatened other prominent lawmakers, officials say Three men jailed for at least seven years over plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer DoJ dragged feet over including Trump in Jan 6 probe over fears of appearing biased, report says Oath Keepers leader issues warning to Trump amid ex-president’s legal woes White House blasts Marjorie Taylor Greene’s criticism of efforts to aid US families GOP presidential hopeful lists conservative pool of Supreme Court picks Trump finally reveals how he thinks he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine in a day

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Lionel Messi is expected to make his MLS debut for Inter Miami CF this Friday. Some tickets for the game are going for nearly $100,000. So to say the soccer world is at a fever pitch would be an understatement.But not only were fans waiting to see Messi... they were waiting to get his official M...

After an ongoing feud between Republican Reps Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, a Republican lawmaker said the standoff between the two Congress members could result in a fistfight. “A fistfight could break out at any moment,” Republican Tennessee Rep Tim Burchett told The Daily Beast. Mr Burchett told the publication that he was serious, and added he was enjoying the Republicans’ rivalry as a “professional wrestling fan.” He told the outlet, “I am friends with both of them. It’s entertaining to think that a fistfight could break out at any movement. I kind of dig that.” The Tennessee Republican isn’t alone in his stance. Another GOP lawmaker close to both Reps Greene and Boebert, who spoke anonymously, told the outlet: “You can’t have too many of these rifts for too long.” Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar called the battle a “two-way sword” to The Daily Beast. He continued, “I just think that whatever is there, could be utilized both ways,” he said, adding that “people make decisions that they have to work and live by, and you kind of hate being in their shoes.” The conflict between the congresswomen came to a head recently when Ms Greene was kicked out of the Freedom Caucus after she called Ms Boebert “a little b****.” The Georgia Republican claimed last week that she didn’t know why she was booted from the Freedom Caucus. She dismissed the move, saying that she didn’t “have time for the drama club.” Read More Marjorie Taylor Greene says she didn’t know she was kicked out of the Freedom Caucus The Freedom Caucus booting Marjorie Taylor Greene looks worse for them than it does for her Marjorie Taylor Greene ousted from House Freedom Caucus following fight with Lauren Boebert

South Africa’s state power utility’s former chief operating officer and now adviser, Jan Oberholzer will leave Eskom Holdings

Although Georgia Republican Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene tried to criticize President Joe Biden by comparing his programs to those of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, the White House took it as a compliment. “Caught us. President Biden is working to make life easier for hardworking families,” the official White House account tweeted. Rep Greene outlined President Johnson’s programmes, called The Great Society, which addressed “education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and welfare,” as well as the Office of Economic Opportunity and labor unions. While Johnson had The Great Society, Joe Biden has Build Back Better, Ms Greene said, describing it as: “The largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs that is actually finishing what FDR started that LBJ expanded on.” “And Joe Biden is attempting to complete socialism,” Ms Greene continued. “Marjorie Taylor Greene thought her recent speech was an attack on ⁦POTUS⁩. It’s actually a huge compliment,” California Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu chimed in. New York Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres also reacted: “Marjorie Taylor Greene, a recovering member of the House Freedom Caucus, has accused President Biden and Congressional Democrats of ‘trying to finish what FDR started.’” He added, “Yes! We are guilty as charged.” Rep Greene criticized President Biden’s investments, saying the US is “now $32 trillion in debt with record high homelessness, 40 year record inflation. We’re losing the US Dollar as the number one world currency. We’re losing our freedoms. Our government is one big fat bloated machine and it’s killing the American dream.” Read More Marjorie Taylor Greene’s antics show that the 2024 election will be about America’s role in the world Far-right pundits and lawmakers evangelise and crown Trump and Tucker at Turning Point’s Florida conference Marjorie Taylor Greene brands Nato ‘not a reliable partner’ as she calls for US to withdraw

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Breaking down 2023 Open Championship tee times with a look at the field, purse and prize money at Royal Liverpool, and how fans can watch the TV coverage.It's time for The Open Championship as American golf fans will get to enjoy some coffee golf for the last major championship of the 2023 ...