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US President Donald Trump’s former counterterrorism official Elizabeth Neumann has sounded the alarm about white nationalism within the administration. She said that extreme ideology is directly informing various government policies. Neumann informed MSNBC last night when asked by host Joy Reid to what extend the administration’s policies on security and immigration were being shaped by white nationalist ideology. She replied that while divining exactly what motivates senior Trump advisers and staff is not always easy, racist motives are clearly playing their part. Neumann said, “Early 2017, I just assumed that the rhetoric we were seeing, the behavior we were seeing was from an inexperienced group, that they didn’t understand how to govern rhetoric and how it takes on a different effect when you’re sitting in the White House”.

Neumann added, “And I gave them a lot of grace, or room to grow, and was deeply disappointed at what I saw. And I came to realize that there is some design to it. And I personally believe. I don’t know any man’s heart, but from what I experienced and some of the people I worked with. I do think there are people who hold a white nationalist viewpoint, and that is actually impacting those policies. Some of those policies have good security means sic, but when you poison it with this white nationalism, it kind of ruins the ability to do it well”. Point to be noted that the FBI and counterterrorism monitoring organizations have warned in the three-and-a-half years of Trump’s presidency that white nationalism and white supremacy are increasingly serious domestic terrorism threats.

It is noteworthy that a long series of violent incidents across the US has indicated that both organized groups and individual extremists are increasingly prepared to take violent action in the name of far-right causes since 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. Neumann also said that Donald Trump, his advisers, and his administration have been accused of pandering to and even in some cases working with these organizations. Stephen Miller and nationalist agitator Steve Bannon have embraced certain far-right ideas and movements particularly openly. They have been criticized on both left and right both for giving succor to racist movements previously considered beyond the pale and for translating extreme ideas into policy, particularly when it comes to immigration.