Five Things To Know About Stephen Miller, Trump’s New Chief of Staff

On Friday, President Trump announced that Susie Wiles, his chief of staff and close ally, was leaving the White House to make way for Stephen Miller.Newly announced White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller at the White House on Friday.Miller, a top Trump adviser known for his hard-line approach to immigration, officially held the positions of deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. But his title belied his sweeping role in shaping the president’s domestic and foreign policy agenda.Here’s five things to know about Trump’s new right-hand-man.He has been a conservative since early in lifeMiller grew up in a liberal Jewish family in Santa Monica, Calif., and was a conservative even in his high school years. He gained a reputation for complaining to conservative media personalities about perceived liberalism from his high school’s leadership.He attended Duke University and wrote for his school paper as a columnist, where he espoused conservative viewpoints and railed against the school’s liberal leanings. “Like countless other schools across the nation, we too are a leftist university,” he wrote in an early column titled “Welcome to Leftist University.”He’s worked with Trump for over a decadeMiller joined Trump’s 2016 campaign after working for Jeff Sessions, then a GOP senator from Alabama. On the campaign, he was praised by colleagues for channeling Trump’s style and beliefs, and gained prominence after writing the then-candidates acceptance speech for the Republican nomination in 2016.“Stephen is one of the most important people in the campaign,” said Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort in a 2016 interview with The Wall Street Journal. “He clearly understands Mr. Trump’s voice.”Once Trump was elected, he was appointed director of speechwriting in the White House.He stuck by Trump after a re-election lossAfter the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, many Trump allies abandoned the president. Not Miller. He helped draft Trump’s speech on the morning of Jan. 6, and at the end of Trump’s first term, he told others that the president would be back.After Trump lost re-election, Miller launched a new organization called America First Legal, which would challenge initiatives enacted by the Biden administration, recruiting Trump lawyers and Republican state attorneys general.The group was also backed by Mark Meadows, a former White House chief of staff. It opposed lawsuits opposing diversity policies at companies, many of whom were later scrutinized by the Trump administration.Trump supported Miller’s organization, he said in an email statement to the Journal at the time, saying, “Conservatives and America First supporters badly need to catch up and turn the tables, which is why I applaud Stephen and Mark Meadows for rushing to fill this critical void.”He is instrumental to Trump’s immigration approachMiller has long played a key role in the president’s approach to immigration. In 2019, Trump told Miller, who had a reputation for his hard-line immigration stances, “you’re in charge” of the administration’s immigration policy, the Journal reported that year.Miller helped identify immigration as a key campaign issue in Trump’s re-election bid. In the current administration, Miller has been the architect of an aggressive immigration policy that has included mass deportations and revocations of legal status. So far, the enforcement campaign has brought illegal border crossings to the lowest level in decades.But public sentiment has shifted this year. After two Americans were fatally shot in Minnesota last winter during an immigration crackdown, weeks of protests erupted, which likely contributed to Trump’s midterm loss this week. After Hispanics moved to Trump in the 2024 election, counties that were 80% or more Hispanic favored Democrats by 40 percentage points.He wields broad power in the White HouseBeyond his role as architect of Trump’s immigration policy, Miller has amassed near-unprecedented power for a White House staffer. The Journal reported last year that he has a staff of around 30 and has spearheaded the administration’s battles with universities over diversity policies and law firms who have represented the president’s opponents. He was also the architect of deadly strikes in the Caribbean on boats allegedly transporting drugs, the Journal reported.Miller was part of a meeting between Meta’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and spoke with CEOs about an announcement on tariffs. According to Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, “Stephen had the unique ability to take the president’s idea on complex topics and hammer through a set of policies that drive the action and deliver. He doesn’t overwhelm you with a charm offensive—it’s action.”Write to Neil Mehta at neil.mehta@wsj.com