Now the really dangerous path is if Trump decides to simply ignore the department and use White House staff such as Miller to implement policy. That’s what Watergate and Iran-Contra had in common: presidents who couldn’t get federal agencies to carry out the policies they wanted and tried to just do it themselves. Both times it was a fiasco. Not only did it backfire and harm the president, but in both cases it failed to achieve the original policy goals. (Yes, Ronald Reagan survived Iran-Contra, but it crippled his presidency. His influence dwindled, his approval ratings collapsed and he was forced to accept a new chief of staff. Nixon, of course, fared even worse.)
Normal presidents listen carefully to what the executive branch is saying, and learn from it. When they realize there’s resistance to something they want, they may decide to back off, to find new allies, or to deploy additional resources. Sometimes they’ll choose to compromise or even accept defeat if it becomes clear that their proposals won’t work. They may also decide that it’s a personnel issue, and put someone more sympathetic in place (although that won’t do much good if they mistake across-the-board opposition for the stubbornness of a lone official).
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