On Friday, a biographer of President Donald Trump warned that commentators are misreading reports that the president is considering replacing White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. According to Seth Abramson, who has written three bestselling books on Trump, the potential swap comes down to a single factor: the president's desire for a collaborator in his effort to "launch a civil war."

Wiles, Trump's 2024 campaign manager and the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, occupies a post long regarded as the presidency's gatekeeper — controlling who reaches the Oval Office and coordinating the West Wing's day-to-day agenda — which is why speculation about the job carries such weight.

Abramson was responding to reports that Trump has asked allies about replacing Wiles sometime after the midterms. Those reportedly in the running for the position include Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a longtime Trump adviser and the administration's leading figure on immigration policy; Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte; and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. According to the Washington Post, a Wiles supporter asserted that a GOP "blowout next month, very likely, will be a wedge that the ambitious use" to claim the chief of staff role. Another source described the past week at the White House as "the new Wild Wild West," as officials jockeyed for favor ahead of a likely post-midterm staff shakeup.

While such administration changes are common after elections, Abramson warned that Trump may have a different motive beyond merely rearranging the Titanic's deck chairs.

"My take on the supposedly sudden internal battle over the future of Susie Wiles: none of this is organic or tied to what reports are saying," Abramson posted on X. "Trump knows he needs a chief of staff who will help him launch a civil war sometime post-midterms, and he believes Wiles isn't that person. Wiles has run things better than Trump could ever have hoped for. Her skillset is known, understood, and essential. What her rumored replacements have in common is that they are men who are willing to betray their country for Trump. I don't think it's more complicated than that."

The warning comes amid reports that the president's allies are pushing him to declare martial law should the midterms not go his way. Martial law — the temporary substitution of military authority for civilian rule — has never been imposed nationwide in the United States. As Axios explains, "MAGA activists are pushing for President Trump to resort to extraordinary measures — including martial law — if they believe the midterm elections are 'rigged.'" Some of the proposals exceed Trump's legal authority, and Axios notes there is no evidence that the elections would be rigged in the first place. Nevertheless, prominent election-denial activists have been pressing Trump to seize control of elections, including his childhood friend, attorney Peter Ticktin, who asserted that "there would have to be martial law in the event... [of] another rigged election," telling Axios, "They'll probably need to be commandeering of ballots and election to make sure that we can get to the bottom of it before anything further occurs."

In Abramson's estimation, Trump is seeking a chief of staff willing to advance such efforts. Others have suggested that Wiles may be set up as a scapegoat for the president to throw under the bus after the midterms. Trump reportedly "blew up" after his "human printer," Natalie Harp, printed out copies of a story about Wiles, spurring the president into a full-blown "freakout."

The turmoil comes as another longtime Trump ally has been fired from the administration, and amid reports of a "MAGA blood feud" rocking the White House. With Election Day now weeks away, the questions to watch are whether Trump follows through on a change atop the West Wing — and, if so, which of the names now circulating succeeds Wiles.