Stephen Miller (advisor)

Stephen Miller
Miller facing frontward against a beige background giving a neutral expression.
Miller in 2025
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Chief of StaffSusie Wiles
Preceded byBruce Reed
12th United States Homeland Security Advisor
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyAnthony Salisbury
Preceded byElizabeth Sherwood-Randall
Senior Advisor to the President
In office
January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021
Serving with Jared Kushner
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded by
Succeeded by
White House Director of Speechwriting
In office
January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byCody Keenan
Succeeded byVinay Reddy
Personal details
Born
Stephen N. Miller

(1985-08-23) August 23, 1985
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
(m. 2020)​
Children3
EducationDuke University (BA)

Stephen N. Miller (born August 23, 1985) is an American political advisor who has served as the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and the United States homeland security advisor since 2025. Miller served as a senior advisor to the president and the White House director of speechwriting from 2017 to 2021.

Miller graduated from Duke University in 2007. As a Duke student, he was involved in politics, serving as the executive director of the Duke Conservative Union and the president of the university's chapter of David Horowitz's Students for Academic Freedom, in addition to authoring a column in The Chronicle. Miller worked as a press secretary for representatives Michele Bachmann and John Shadegg. In 2009, he began working for Alabama senator Jeff Sessions, serving as his communications director. Miller and Sessions were responsible for defeating the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act in the House of Representatives. As an aide to Sessions, Miller worked to influence the coverage of Breitbart News, providing links to the far-right website VDARE and the white-supremacist online-only magazine American Renaissance to Breitbart editors.

In January 2016, Miller joined Donald Trump's campaign in that year's presidential election as a senior policy advisor. He wrote many of Trump's speeches, including his eventual inaugural address. After Trump's victory, Miller was appointed as senior advisor to the president and the White House director of speechwriting. He largely influenced Trump's immigration policy, including the practice of separating children from their families. Additionally, Miller authored the executive order instituting the Muslim travel ban. After Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election, Miller remained with Trump. He was subpoenaed by the Smith special counsel investigation examining efforts to overturn the election, including the January 6 Capitol attack. In April 2021, Miller established America First Legal, a conservative public interest organization. He advised Trump's campaign in the 2024 presidential election.

In November 2024, Trump named Miller as his deputy chief of staff for policy and his homeland security advisor. He is the youngest person and the first millennial to serve as homeland security advisor. In Trump's second term, Miller emerged as one of the most powerful Trump administration officials and a key author of numerous policies.

Early life and education (1985–2007)

See also: § Views
Duke University, where Miller studied (pictured in 2006).

Stephen N. Miller[1] was born on August 23, 1985,[2] in the North of Montana neighborhood in Santa Monica, California.[3] Miller was the second of three children[4] to Michael and Miriam (née Glosser) Miller.[5][a] Michael was a lawyer and real estate investor, while Miriam was a social worker.[7] They were New Deal Democrats.[8] Miller is of Eastern European Jewish descent through his mother and father, who were grandchildren of Jews who escaped persecution;[5] his maternal great-great-grandfather, Wolf Glosser, was born in Antopal, Belarus, and immigrated to the United States in 1903 amid pogroms in the Russian Empire that began following the assassination of Alexander II.[7] Wolf—who changed his name to Louis upon arriving in Ellis Island—and his son, Nathan, founded Glosser Brothers in 1906 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.[9] Michael's father's business, Cordary, began experiencing cash flow problems in 1992 as litigation filed by Michael against his former law firm mounted and the United States entered a recession. Additionally, several Cordary properties were affected by the 1994 Northridge earthquake.[10] The Millers sold their home in North of Montana in 1998, purchasing a smaller home south of Interstate 10.[11] Miller went to Hebrew school at Beth Shir Shalom, where classmates identified him as a contrarian.[8] Miriam's brother, the neuropsychologist David S. Glosser, wrote an article in Politico Magazine in August 2018 accusing Miller of hypocrisy for his anti-immigration stance.[12]

Miller attended Franklin Elementary School, where he was described by a former teacher as "off by himself all the time",[13] and Lincoln Middle School.[14] In 1999, he began attending Santa Monica High School.[15] Miller opposed his high school's chapter of the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán and was said to have taunted immigrants by the chapter's founder; he reportedly insisted to other students and teachers that they speak English. Miller called into The Larry Elder Show (1993–2008; 2010–2014) and successfully brought the eponymous host, Larry Elder, to his high school.[16] He later appeared after the September 11 attacks to describe an incident in which a Canadian teacher placed the flag of the United States on the floor and discussed its importance, though Miller alleged that the teacher had dragged the flag across the floor and trampled over it. Miller appeared on The Larry Elder Show sixty-nine times, according to an estimate he gave to Elder, and asked Elder for an internship. Elder later told the journalist Jean Guerrero in 2019 that Miller was "full of energy and passion".[17] He was confirmed at The Santa Monica Synagogue, a Reform temple.[8]

At Santa Monica, Miller garnered attention, having been lampooned in an April Fools' Day issue of the school newspaper, The Samohi. In 2002, he ran for student announcer, giving a speech in which he questioned being told to pick up trash when the school hired custodians; the student body disapproved of Miller's comments and he lost to a German immigrant. Miller's appearances on The Larry Elder Show were heard by the conservative writer David Horowitz, whom Miller controversially asked to appear at Santa Monica.[18] In an article on Horowitz's website, FrontPage Magazine, Miller called for Santa Monica to institute the Pledge of Allegiance, a demand the school complied with, and for the school's culture to embrace "inclusive patriotism", in contrast to multiculturalism. Santa Monica's principal and its district superintendent blamed Miller for having caused a tax increase initiative to fail. According to Miller's article, the principal distributed a memorandum to teachers, ordering them to discuss the Iraq War in a neutral and balanced manner.[19] Miller was involved in the school's band program, tennis, religious studies, and political and youth groups.[20]

Miller began attending Duke University in 2003[20] to study political science.[21] There, he was nicknamed "Guns" for introducing himself on the East Campus with, "I'm from Santa Monica, California—and I like guns." He was involved in a relationship with a Mexican-American woman pseudonymously referred to as "Yovana" in Guerrero's book Hatemonger (2020). Yovana, who espoused conservative views, left Duke at the end of their freshman year. In 2004, outraged at Duke's decision to schedule a Palestine Solidarity Movement conference, Miller founded the university's chapter of Horowitz's Students for Academic Freedom and rallied students to oppose the conference.[22] The following year, he was the author of a column in The Chronicle, Duke's student newspaper, titled "Miller Time". Miller continued to critique multiculturalism. His combative debate strategy, particularly in his column, earned Miller a pugnacious reputation.[23] Miller invited Horowitz to speak at Duke, who in turn named Miller to lead the Terrorism Awareness Project, an initiative that conflated Muslims and Arabs with terrorists. Miller appeared on Fox & Friends (1998–present) to promote the effort.[24]

In the aftermath of the Duke lacrosse rape hoax, Miller defended the three members of the Duke Blue Devils men's lacrosse team who were accused of rape, finding that they had been presumed guilty for being white males. He appeared on Nancy Grace (2005–2016) to further advocate for the lacrosse players.[25] After reports emerged that the accuser, Crystal Mangum, had concealed the results of a negative DNA test, Miller continued to discuss the issue, condemning an advertisement that noted the persistent fear of students "who know themselves to be objects of racism and sexism" in an interview with Bill O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor (1996–2017).[26] By junior year, Miller had joined the Duke Conservative Union. He had become the organization's executive director by the beginning of his senior year, a position that allowed him to fundraise.[27] Miller, fixated on establishing a memorial for the September 11 attacks, forgot to take his LSAT to go to law school.[21] Through the Duke Conservative Union, Miller met and subsequently praised Richard B. Spencer, who later became known as a white supremacist. The two organized an immigration debate in March 2007.[28]

Career

Congressional work (2007–2016)

After graduating from Duke University, Miller traveled across Eurasia, including embarking on a Birthright Israel trip.[29] Through David Horowitz,[30] Miller began working for Minnesota representative Michele Bachmann by December 2007[31] as her press secretary.[30] He moved to Washington, D.C., where his family had assisted him in purchasing a US$450,000 condominium.[30] By 2009, Miller—and independently Horowitz—had become disillusioned with Bachmann. Horowitz referred Miller to Arizona representative John Shadegg. Miller participated in Tea Party protests against Barack Obama with Shadegg. In June 2009, Miller began working for Alabama senator Jeff Sessions as his press secretary after Horowitz recommended him.[32] Miller sought to legitimize his criticisms of immigration and garner a larger audience; he formed relationships with anti-immigration organizations, including the Center for Immigration Studies, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, and NumbersUSA.[33] Miller became Session's communications manager by August 2014.[21] That year, he purchased a US$1 million condominium in CityCenterDC with the assistance of his parents.[34]

As a communications aide to Sessions, Miller worked to influence the editorial coverage of Breitbart News. He sent editors links to the far-right website VDARE and the white-supremacist online-only magazine American Renaissance;[35] Horowitz attributed Miller's discovery of American Renaissance to his profile of Jared Taylor.[35] Miller's efforts legitimized Breitbart's language in Congress[36] and influenced The Daily Caller's immigration coverage.[37] Miller, joined by Sessions, mounted a successful campaign to disparage the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, an immigration reform bill proposed by four Democratic senators and four Republican senators known as the Gang of Eight. The bill passed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, but was not considered in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives after Miller brought House staffers a binder with talking points and research he had conducted.[38] Miller assisted Dave Brat in mounting a primary challenge to defeat Virginia representative Eric Cantor, who was serving as House majority leader at the time.[21] In January 2015, Miller and Sessions authored Immigration Handbook for the New Republican Majority, a rebuttal to the Republican Party's post-mortem after Mitt Romney's loss in the 2012 presidential election.[39]

In November 2019, the Southern Poverty Law Center published a summary of approximately nine hundred emails from Miller that were sent to Breitbart News from March 2015 to June 2016. The emails were provided by Katie McHugh, a former editor at the website. Correspondences between Miller and McHugh show a shared concern that Mexican survivors of Hurricane Patricia could be granted temporary protected status—an exchange in which Miller included a link to VDARE, and that e-commerce websites had removed Confederate merchandise in the aftermath of the Charleston church shooting—an article that appeared later on Breitbart. Miller urged Breitbart editors to read The Camp of the Saints (1973), a novel that depicts the destruction of Western civilization through mass immigration; days later, Julia Hahn reviewed the book for the website.[40] Kurt Bardella, a former spokesman for Breitbart, descirbed Miller as "almost a de facto assignment editor". The Southern Poverty Law Center later obtained additional emails in which Miller linked an article from a think tank about an apparent increase in the number of newborns named "Mohammed", a story that appeared on Breitbart the following day, and an email in which Miller praised the work of the anti-immigration commentator Jason Richwine.[41] Miller additionally sought to disparage Florida senator Marco Rubio.[42]

Trump campaign and transition (2016–2017)

Miller at a rally for Donald Trump in Phoenix, Arizona, in June 2016.

In June 2015, the businessman Donald Trump declared his candidacy in the 2016 presidential election.[43] Trump's views on race interested Miller;[44] in an interview with Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear for Border Wars (2019), Miller felt that Trump "doubled down, breaking that apology-retreat cycle" and giving confidence to a customarily dissatisfied populous.[45] Miller was particularly invested in defeating Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a member of the Gang of Eight who was running for president. Breitbart News's Matthew Boyle referred Miller to Sam Nunberg, a political consultant working for the Trump campaign. Despite a recommendation from Sessions, Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager, was reluctant to hire Miller. Nonetheless, Miller contributed to Trump's campaign without its support. He prepared Trump's immigration policies.[46]

On January 25, 2016, Miller joined Donald Trump's presidential campaign as a senior policy advisor.[47] He began writing speeches for Trump at Steve Bannon's behest[39] and with encouragement from Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.[48] Miller intensified Trump's language, including by embedding the term "radical Islam" into his speeches.[49] At Miller's behest, Sessions endorsed Trump in February, becoming the first senator to do so;[50] Politico wrote that the endorsement was damaging to Texas senator Ted Cruz, who had declared his candidacy on a platform intended to attract voters who identified with the Tea Party movement and evangelical beliefs, and legitimized Trump's campaign.[51] Miller's interview with the Breitbart News Daily (2015–present) host Brandon Darby the following month influenced the National Border Patrol Council's decision to endorse Trump.[52]

By March, Miller's role had included serving as an opening act for Trump at rallies.[21] He wrote Trump's acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention[53] and served as the campaign's policy liaison to the convention.[21] Miller assisted Trump in preparing for debates with Hillary Clinton.[54] After the convention, the campaign switched to a teleprompter and elevated Miller to Trump's principal speechwriter.[55] By August, he had become Trump's national policy director. That month, Miller was appointed to lead an economic team.[56] Politico described Miller as an "instrumental advisor for Trump on the issue" of immigration.[57] His influence in writing speeches amplified after Trump was convinced by Bannon to read from speeches written by him and Miller.[58] After Trump won the 2016 election, Miller retained his role as national policy director for the transition.[59] He lead much of the policy work to prepare for Trump's first one hundred days.[60] Trump designated Miller to write his inaugural address.[61]

Senior Advisor and White House Director of Speechwriting (2017–2021)

Miller (gray suit) observing Trump sign an executive order in January 2017.

On December 14, 2016, Trump named Miller as his senior advisor to the president for policy.[62] His role was later clarified to have oversight over the Domestic Policy Council.[63] In addition to Bannon's contributions, Miller wrote many of Trump's initial executive orders,[64] including the order that instituted the Muslim travel ban.[65] In contrast to the internal faction of Trump advisors revolving around Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff who previously served as the chair of the Republican National Committee,[66] Miller was affiliated with Bannon.[67] According to Politico, allies of Priebus were "wary" of Miller, among other aides critical of moderating Trump's politics.[68] Miller led a principals committee meeting on immigration in January 2017, according to the Los Angeles Times.[69] Miller's dominant position in developing Trump's immigration policy garnered him criticism.[70]

In February, The New York Times reported that Trump had urged Priebus to implement conventional protocols, including limiting Bannon and Miller's unfettered access, after reports that other Trump officials were not briefed about the travel ban order until it had already been signed.[71] Miller wrote Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress that month.[72] He sought to purge the federal government of Barack Obama's political appointees.[73] The dynamics of Miller's influence in the Trump administration shifted by April as Bannon entered into conflict with Jared Kushner; Miller informed colleagues that he was not affiliated with Bannon. That month, he began to work with Office of American Innovation, led by Kushner, and began focusing on energy and regulatory issues.[74] Miller remained an ally of Bannon.[75]

Miller supported the dismissal of James Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,[76] and drafted the letter firing him.[77] He and Bannon were allegedly responsible for removing a line in Trump's speech before the 2017 Brussels NATO summit mentioning Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty,[78] leading to a dispute with H. R. McMaster, the national security advisor.[79] In June, Politico reported that secretary of state Rex Tillerson had disputed with Miller over immigration after Miller told Tillerson that the Department of State should be tougher on immigration.[80] Prior to assuming the position of chief of staff, John F. Kelly worked to develop a relationship with Miller.[81] In August, Miller publicly sparred with CNN's Jim Acosta—whom he accused of "cosmopolitan bias"—in a press briefing for the RAISE Act.[82] Days later, Reuters reported that Miller was a possible contender for White House communications director, succeeding Anthony Scaramucci.[83]

In Kelly's White House Office, Miller was largely successful in influencing Trump.[84] He had previously conflicted with Kelly, then the secretary of homeland security, in seeking to appoint the president of the National Border Patrol Council as the director of Customs and Border Protection and the president of the National Immigrant and Customs Enforcement Council as the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Miller was unsuccessful. Consequently, Miller and his allies blocked Kelly in naming Alan Metzler as his chief of staff, who instead offering the position to Kirstjen Nielsen. Elaine Duke succeeded Kelly as the acting secretary of homeland security. Miller opposed appointing Duke to the position permanently.[85] He advocated for pardoning Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County who was convicted of contempt of court, securing his release from prison.[86]

In September, Trump announced a gradual end to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,[87] a move that Miller had encouraged Trump to take for months.[88] That month, The New York Times reported that Miller had been advocating for adjusting the refugee quota established in the Refugee Act from 110,000—set by Obama before he left office—to 15,000.[89] Though Trump later stated he would work with Democrats on a deal to restore Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and he planned to set the quota at 45,000 refugees, Miller's efforts had an impact on immigration policy.[90] He outlined several hard-line immigration proposals, including hiring ten thousand immigration enforcement agents, in a draft that month, after Trump had reached a tentative agreement with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.[91]

In January 2018, as a federal government shutdown neared over disputes involving Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Trump privately stated that he was willing to negotiate to extend legal status to immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children; in response, Kelly and Miller rejected a deal unless it was attached to austere immigration restrictions.[92] Republican negotiators accused Miller of preventing a deal from being struck.[93] Miller wrote that year's State of the Union Address.[94] He advocated for a veto of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, a bill that would fund that fiscal year, over funds for the Trump wall, pointing to the possibility of a Republican loss in that year's elections.[95] Miller worked against the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.[96] After Kelly Sadler was dismissed over comments she made about the political viability and mortality Arizona senator John McCain—who was suffering from brain cancer—Miller had Julia Hahn appointed to cover her communications work in order to advance Trump's hardline immigration messaging.[97] Miller sought to garner support for a bill paralleling his immigration framework in June.[98]

Miller was an advocate for the Trump administration's family separation policy.[99] In April, he was "instrumental" in Trump's decision to intensify enforcement of the policy, according to The New York Times. Miller was critical to Trump's endorsement of the family separation policy.[100] The policy incited controversy, including an internal conflict,[101] targeted towards Miller in June.[102] Amid the backlash, Miller continued to lead a plan to use executive authority and rule changes to institute an immigration crackdown ahead of that year's elections, believing immigration to be a key issue.[103] He conducted meetings privately, in fear of "hostile bureaucrats" leaking policies, according to Politico.[104] That month, the Supreme Court affirmed the Muslim travel ban; chief justice John Roberts supported Miller's assertion that the president could use Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to "suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens" through any necessary means.[105] In an effort to quell outcry, Trump signed an executive order ending the practice of family separation.[106]

According to the Financial Times, Miller sought to ban student visas for Chinese nationals, but his efforts were halted by Terry Branstad, the ambassador to China.[107] In August, The New York Times reported that the Trump administration was considering a second reduction in the refugee quota. The Times noted that opponents of Miller—including Tillerson and Duke—had been ousted in favor of anti-immigrant officials, giving Miller's plan a greater chance of success.[108] He privately urged Trump to continue on his border wall.[109] In September, secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced that the quota would be set at 30,000.[110] That month, the Department of Homeland Security proposed a rule denying lawful permanent residency to immigrants who have received government benefits, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicare, and Section 8.[111] The volume of immigration actions the following month—the deployment of federal troops to the Mexico–United States border and proposed executive action on blocking the Central American migrant caravans and ending birthright citizenship—was described a Republican close to the White House as "a dream come true" for Miller.[112]

As a second federal government shutdown in December 2018 neared over funding the Trump wall, Miller publicly stated that the Trump administration would "do whatever is necessary" to build the border wall, including shutting down the government.[113] In a meeting to resolve the shutdown, Kushner defended Miller as an expert on the subject of immigration,[114] though Kushner's support for legal immigration led to a conflict with Miller.[115] Miller's influence with Trump led to concerns from senior Republican aides that he could convince Trump that accepting a compromise would amount to humiliation.[116] Trump worked on the that year's State of the Union address with Miller, who sought to reassert himself on a speech that involved immigration.[117]

Miller opposed Ronald Vitiello's nomination as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement[118] and Nielsen's tenure as secretary of homeland security;[119] Trump withdrew Vitiello as his nominee[118] and Nielsen was ousted within a two-day timespan in April.[119] The departures, including Randolph Alles as director of Secret Service, continued in the following days in a mass purge across the Department of Homeland Security, in what The New York Times described as a signal of Miller's "enduring influence".[120] Miller leveraged the uncertainty to pursue an aggressive immigration policy, pressuring mid-level officials at federal departments and agencies to be more vigorous in halting immigration.[121] He pushed for the purge to continue and for several immigration policies, including housing migrants in sanctuary cities and extending detention times, to be implemented.[122] The purge led to concerns about Miller's authority from congressional Republicans, including Texas senator John Cornyn.[123] According to The New York Times, Miller orchestrated the purge.[124] Kevin McAleenan, the acting secretary of homeland security, resisted Miller's continued efforts to dismiss officials.[125] Miller was influential in Trump's decision to name Ken Cuccinelli as the acting director of Citizenship and Immigration Services.[126]

Miller advocated for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to force the eviction of undocumented immigrants.[127] In June, Trump imposed tariffs on Mexico over the border crisis, a suggestion that had been offered by Miller and Peter Navarro, the director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.[128] The following month, Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a regulation favoring wealthier immigrants for lawful permanent residency, an initiative Miller had led.[129] In September, Miller sought to further reduce the refugee quota.[130] In December, he developed a plan to use information the Department of Health and Human Services had on migrant children to target them and their families for deportation. The plan would have also embedded immigration enforcement agents in the department's Office of Refugee Resettlement. The effort was rejected by officials at the Department of Health and Human Services.[131]

Miller led speechwriting for the 2020 State of the Union Address, though he sought to temper his influence on its tone.[132] In February, he married Katie Rose Waldman, the press secretary to vice president Mike Pence and a former spokeswoman for Nielsen, at the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C..[133] Trump attended their wedding.[134] Miller and Waldman met through mutual friends in 2018 and engaged a year-and-a-half later.[133] They have three children together.[135] The COVID-19 pandemic provided opportunities for Miller to advance his immigration policies. The foundation for Miller's actions came in prior attempts to use the president's authority in relatively minor health emergencies.[136] In April, Trump suspended family-based immigration. Miller told conservative allies in a private conference call that the halt to immigration was one step in a broader plan.[137] Miller's efforts at the Department of Health and Human Services returned with a more amenable response.[138]

In May, chief of staff Mark Meadows suggested that Miller should serve as the acting director of the Domestic Policy Council after Joe Grogan's resignation, though Kushner successfully proposed Derek Lyons instead.[139] After Katie tested positive for COVID-19 that month, Miller was forced to quarantine.[140] He continued to push for changes to immigration policy to follow up on Trump's order in April, raising the standard of proof for asylum seekers.[141] According to secretary of defense Mark Esper, he reportedly called for as many as a quarter of a million troops to be stationed at the border with Mexico.[142] Miller participated in debate preparation sessions against Joe Biden.[143] In October, Miller was among those who tested positive for COVID-19 amid an outbreak of the virus at the White House.[144] Miller remained with Trump after the January 6 Capitol attack;[145] he wrote the speech Trump gave preceding the attack.[146] Miller contributed to Trump's speech condemning the attack after his second impeachment.[147] In the final days of Trump's term, Miller continued to work to implement Trump's immigration policies.[148]

Post-government activities (2021–2024)

Investigations into Donald Trump

In November 2021, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol subpoeaned Miller, citing his false claims of fraud and his role in the Trump fake electors plot.[149] Miller filed a lawsuit to block the committee from accessing his phone records in March 2022, arguing that the subpoena would invade on his parent's privacy since he was on their family plan.[150] The following month, he privately testified before the committee over the speech Trump gave preceding the attack. Representatives pressed Miller on the use of the word "we" in potentially inciting the mob.[146]

In October 2021, Trump asserted executive privilege over documents relating to Miller amid a Department of Justice investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.[151] The Department of Justice subpoeaned Miller in September 2022.[152] Judge Beryl Howell compelled him to testify in March 2023,[153] a ruling that was reaffirmed by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit weeks later.[154]

Political activities

See also: America First Legal

In January 2021, after the inauguration of Joe Biden, Miller stated he was "focused on a variety of projects to advance the America First agenda."[155] In March, Politico reported that Miller, had begun forming America First Legal, a conservative public interest organization. According to Politico, Miller consulted the Conservative Partnership Institute and lawyer Ken Starr, who authored the Starr Report that led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton, and requested funding from Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts.[156] He announced the organization in March[156] and established it the following month.[157] In February, Miller briefed Republican Study Committee members.[158] He began advising Alabama representative Mo Brooks in his campaign for the 2022 Senate election, appearing at Brooks's campaign announcement the following month.[159]

In December, Miller began advising Bridgewater Associates chief executive Dave McCormick in his campaign for the 2022 Senate election in Pennsylvania.[160] He was courted by speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy in his effort to garner support from the House of Representative's far-right members, particularly the Freedom Caucus.[161] In November 2023, The New York Times reported that Miller was leading an initiative to appoint several lawyers to Trump's second term, including Chad Mizelle—who served as the acting general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, Jonathan F. Mitchell—the former solicitor general of Texas, Aaron Reitz—the chief of staff for Texas senator Ted Cruz, and Brent Webster—the first assistant attorney general of Texas.[162] That month, the Times reported on Miller's plans to expand Trump's immigration policy, including raids, mass deportations, and larger detention facilities.[163]

White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor (2025–present)

Miller discussing Alligator Alcatraz in July 2025.

On November 11, 2024, CNN reported that president-elect Donald Trump was expected to name Miller as his White House deputy chief of staff for policy.[164] Trump's selection was confirmed by vice president-elect JD Vance on X hours later.[165] On November 13, Trump publicly announced that Trump would serve as his deputy chief of staff for policy and his homeland security advisor.[166] Although his role was muted, Miller was expected to have significant influence over agency heads.[167] He began educating Elon Musk on the federal bureaucracy;[168] the two men had found a common cause in describing undocumented immigrants as a threat to Western civilization.[169]

Miller was an architect of Trump's immigration policies in his second term,[170] and he oversaw a team writing initial executive orders.[169] His strategy involved using existing laws, such as the Alien Enemies Act, to quickly carry out deportations and avoid time-consuming hearings.[170] Additionally, he sought to reinstate Title 42 expulsions.[171] Miller told advisers in Trump's presidential transition not to express concern that immigration actions could yield litigation.[172] After Pam Bondi, Trump's nominee to serve as attorney general following Matt Gaetz's withdrawal, successfully advocated for Trump to nominate Hillsborough County sheriff Chad Chronister as his administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Miller was critical of Chronister, who withdrew his nomination.[173]

According to Illinois senator Dick Durbin, Miller pressured acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove to act more vigorously in dismissing officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, citing the bureau's nominal director, Kash Patel.[174] Defying prior assertions in court papers, Miller told reporters in April 2025 that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, was not mistakenly deported.[175] The following month, he stated that the Trump administration was considering suspending habeas corpus for immigrants.[176] In May, Axios reported that Miller and secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem had set an arrest quota of three thousand people per day;[177] the Department of Justice later denied the existence of a quota in a court case over protests in Los Angeles in June.[178]

Views

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Miller began identifying with ideologies associated with conservatism in the seventh grade[34] after purchasing a subscription to Guns & Ammo (1958–present). In one issue of the magazine, the actor Charlton Heston wrote a column, leading Miller to read Guns, Crimes, and Freedom (1994) by National Rifle Association of America chief executive Wayne LaPierre.[179] Former high school classmates of Miller speculated to The New York Times that Miller enjoyed contrarianism and confrontations. The conservative political commentator Larry Elder told the Times that Miller was already reading Ayn Rand and The Federalist Papers in high school.[180] According his former dormmates at Duke University, Miller described himself as a libertarian.[181] Miller supported Donald Trump running for president as early as 2014.[182] In July 2020, the Southern Poverty Law Center added Miller to its database of extremists.[183] After Barack Obama spoke at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Miller referred to him as "one of the worst presidents, if not the worst president, in U.S. history."[184]

Immigration policy

Miller is an opponent of illegal immigration. He has argued that documented and undocumented immigrants have expanded the U.S. labor market, leading to reduced wages.[185] In January 2017, Miller privately proposed eliminating the lottery process for H-1B visas in favor of a system that would give preference to visa petitions for high-salary jobs.[186] As a communications aide to Jeff Sessions, he opposed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals as "mass backdoor amnesty".[187] Miller is a proponent of stricter asylum rules,[188] telling Fox News that Afghan refugees fleeing the country after the 2021 Taliban offensive would bring chaos to the United States.[189] He defended Trump's decision to declare the National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States as sanctioned by the National Emergencies Act.[190] Miller supported a choice model for the family separation policy in which families would be forced to decide whether they would willingly separate their children or waive their child's humanitarian protections, enjoining them in detention.[191]

In May 2018, Miller blamed Democrats for the Mexico–United States border crisis.[192] Speaking in his "personal capacity", Miller described president Joe Biden as a "radical outlier in the whole of human civilization" over his immigration policy in October 2020.[193] In his first tweet, hours after Biden's inauguration, Miller criticized Biden for what he describe as "opening travel from terror hot spots, proposing a giant amnesty, [and] halting the installation of security barriers along the Southwest border".[194] In January 2023, after Biden announced that he was moving to institute a major crackdown on immigration, Miller alleged that the president was seeking to "increase the foreign-born population of the United States as speedily as possible".[195] Miller repeated his sentiment after Biden extended temporary protected status to Venezuelans in September.[196]

Foreign and domestic affairs

After the September 11 attacks, Miller wrote that he relished "the thought of watching Osama Bin Laden being riddled to death with bullets." In 2003, he told classmates on a bus that he supported cutting off the fingers of "Saddam Hussein and his henchmen."[197] In A Sacred Oath (2022), secretary of defense Mark Esper alleged that, in a Situation Room meeting convened over an operation to kill Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder and first leader of the Islamic State, Miller suggested taking Baghdadi's head, dipping it in pig's blood, and parading it around to warn other terrorists. Miller denied giving those remarks and referred to Esper as a "moron".[198]

Miller decried his high school for offering condoms to students—describing sex between minors as strictly statutory rape—and for allowing a club for homosexual students.[21] In "Miller Time" for Duke University's student newspaper, The Chronicle, Miller defended the death penalty for rapists and child abusers, argued that women earn less than men because men take harder jobs, criticized "unrelenting health fascists" for lying about the health effects of tobacco, stated that Hollywood was a leftist "propaganda machine"—citing films such as Brokeback Mountain (2005), and espoused concern over an apparent war on Christmas.[199]

Miller referred to the whistleblower who revealed the call between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump that led to a scandal and Trump's impeachment as a partisan "saboteur".[200] After Trump was found guilty in a criminal trial involving his concealment of payments made to the pornographic actress Stormy Daniels, Miller urged Republican district attorneys to initiate "every investigation they need to" and Republicans on congressional committees to leverage their "subpoena power in every way" possible to defeat "Marxism and beat these Communists."[201] After Biden's son, Hunter, was convicted on firearm charges, Miller alleged that Hunter had not been charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, in reference to the Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory, because it would implicate his father.[202]

Miller has alleged that voter fraud occurred in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. In February 2017, he told George Stephanopoulos on ABC News that voters had been bussed into New Hampshire, a claim rejected by state political figures and officials.[203] After Trump's loss in the 2020 election, Miller appeared on Fox News to argue that an "alternate slate of electors" could ensure Trump's victory, a legally impermissible maneuver.[204]

Race and culture issues

In high school, Miller argued that racism was fictitious and that racial segregation did not exist because it was not legally imposed, owing to the civil rights movement. In strategic plan meetings at his high school district, he decried bilingual education, multicultural activities, and announcements in Spanish.[205] In an article for The Samohi, Santa Monica High School's student newspaper, Miller praised American exceptionalism for slavery in ninety years.[21] wrote that impoverished Islamic countries were "poor and failing" because "they have refused to embrace the values that make our country great". In an AP United States Government and Politics class, he justified the Trail of Tears.[206] Writing for a Christian publication, Miller In "Miller Time", he defended the conservative politician William Bennett after he gave comments that suggested that aborting every African American, while immoral, would reduce the crime rate. He described a freshman orientation speech delivered by the poet Maya Angelou as "racial paranoia" and rife with unoriginal "multicultural clichés".[207]

In writing speeches for Trump, Miller marked a shift in language that included terms such as "radical Islamic terrorism", a phrase alleged by critics to insinuate that all Muslims are terrorists. In an interview with The New York Times in February 2021, he criticized Joe Biden's lexicon for being politically correct, specifically noting that critics of the term "equity" would deride it as discrimination.[208]

Notes

  1. ^ Michael and Miriam had one child before Miller: Alexis[6], and one child after Miller: Jacob (born 1989)[3].

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Works cited

Books

  • Baker, Peter; Glasser, Susan (2022). The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021. New York: Penguin Random House. ISBN 9780385546539.
  • Guerrero, Jean (2020). Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 9780062986719.
  • Davis, Julie; Shear, Michael (2019). Border Wars: Inside Trump's Assault on Immigration. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781982117399.

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Documents

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