About a week before the 2020 United States presidential election, Miles Taylor, who had been deputy chief of staff to the Department of Homeland Security's secretary Kirstjen Nielsen when writing the essay, revealed himself as the author.

The op-ed criticizes Donald Trump and states that many current members of the administration deliberately undermine his suggestions and orders for the good of the country.

During the week that the article was published, the book Fear: Trump in the White House by political author Bob Woodward was being promoted in the media ahead of its September 11, 2018, release date.

[5] The author of the essay writes that they and many of their colleagues deliberately fail to follow some directives from the president when they feel the proposal would be bad for the country, "working diligently" to block his "worst inclinations".

The paper's editorial page editor summarized the column's perspective as that of "a conservative explaining why they felt that even if working for the Trump administration meant compromising some principles, it ultimately served the country if they could achieve some of the president's policy objectives while helping resist some of his worst impulses".

Dao said the use of a vaguely described anonymous identity was believed to be necessary to protect the author from reprisal, "and that concern has been borne out by the president's reaction to the essay".

[9] Some offshore bookmakers took bets on who the anonymous author was, with Vice President Mike Pence being the favorite at one site, while then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions led the field at another.

US Representative Jimmy Gomez commended the author for speaking out against the president but criticized them for maintaining anonymity, saying: "This is the problem with a lot of Republicans, including in the House: they privately say he's wrong, but they don't do anything about it.

"[25] Former president Barack Obama warned that the op-ed should be viewed as a sign of "dangerous times" rather than as a source of comfort, criticizing the actions of the author as undemocratic.

"[29] Margaret Sullivan of The Washington Post called it "an exercise in ego" and criticized its "turgid prose" but ultimately agreed with the decision to publish it.

[29] Former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum chastised the author for staying anonymous and warned that the essay would increase Trump's paranoia: "Things will be worse after this piece.