As with many rising figures in the Republican Party, Miller and Trump have a history; the congressman served as a White House aide during the President’s first term in office. Privately, according to Axios, Trump told Miller in a call that same day that “things aren’t looking good.” Compared with the overlapping crises threatening Trump’s political position—the Iran war, his failure to manage the cost of living, his multiplying corruption scandals—the Miller-Moreno conflict is a smaller matter. On his phone call with Trump, Miller had reportedly cited some promising polling on his reëlection campaign; on Monday, he insisted to reporters, “I can win.” On Tuesday night, Miller spent twenty-three minutes defending himself on Jake Tapper’s CNN show, an appearance during which several minutes were spent on whether Miller had, in fact, held a blue bunny hostage.