From conservative campus warrior to Trump confidant, Miller takes over as White House chief of staff and is closer to the core of decision-making

(Central News Agency, Washington, 8th Comprehensive Foreign News Report) U.S. President Trump’s long-time confidant Miller will take over as White House Chief of Staff. Although Miller was born in a liberal environment in California, he rose to become an important operator of Trump’s immigration policy due to his conservative stance. Now he will control the daily operations of the White House and be closer to the core of policy decision-making.

Donald Trump announced on the 6th that long-time White House staff Stephen Miller will take over as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles, who has served in this position since Trump returned to the White House.

Miller, 41, grew up in Santa Monica, California, which is politically liberal. His mother comes from a well-known Jewish family. His father graduated from Stanford University and is a lawyer who is also a small power in the real estate industry. However, after the real estate company run by his parents ran into trouble, the family also moved to a rental house.

The current affairs magazine "Vanity Fair" once described that although Miller has always liked to do shocking and provocative things, his family is not much different from other families in Santa Monica. The Los Angeles Times bluntly stated that his family has supported the Democratic Party for many years.

It is said that Miller was very obsessed with "Star Trek" when he was a child, and he and his brother would wear Captain Kirk uniforms. His junior high school friend Jason Islas recalled that Miller "liked Kirk's macho style very much, and I think he really regarded this style as a model for his own behavior."

According to Los Angeles, Miller's interest in politics was sparked by a subscription to Guns and Ammo magazine. He was then exposed to articles by National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre, and these conservative ideas were something Miller had never heard of before.

Miller's political views are incompatible with the progressive and tolerant Santa Monica community, but he seems to enjoy them. When he was 16 years old, he wrote an opinion piece in a local newspaper about the "rogue political correctness" that had "engulfed" his high school and school district.

While in high school, Miller also frequently appeared on conservative radio programs, opposing the use of Spanish-language broadcasts in schools and advocating for the restoration of the daily reading of the United States' "Pledge of Allegiance."

Miller also showed a militant conservative style when he was a columnist for the student newspaper at Duke University.

Public Television Network (PBS) reported that in 2006, three Duke University lacrosse players were accused of raping a black woman at an off-campus party. Miller wrote an article at the time saying that the "racial left" was demonizing the three white athletes. His comments attracted the attention of cable television networks, and his fame quickly spread across the country. He later used this fame to move to Washington, D.C., at the age of 22.

In 2007, Miller began his career in Washington as the press secretary to Representative Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican, and later became the press secretary to Representative John Shadegg.

In 2009, Miller served as press secretary to Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions and was later promoted to Sessions' communications director. According to The Hill, Miller has pushed for Sessions to take a more outspoken and combative stance, especially on immigration.

Privately, Miller is known in Washington political circles as a tough press staffer who often clashes with reporters and others in Washington.

In 2015, when Trump announced his bid for the presidency, Sessions became the first federal senator to express support for him, and later served as attorney general during Trump's first presidential term. However, Sessions eventually broke with Trump, and Miller entered Trump's inner circle.

Over the past 10 years, many important people around Trump have come and gone, including outgoing White House Chief of Staff Wells. But Miller remained loyal to Trump from the 2016 campaign through Trump's two presidential terms.

The New York Times reported that Republican U.S. Senator Jim Banks of Indiana once said that Trump spoke to Miller almost every day during the four years he was not in office. "Before many of us even thought about him having a second term, they were already discussing what his second-term agenda might look like."

After Trump lost the re-election campaign in 2020, Miller founded the conservative non-profit organization "America First Legal" to advocate the abolition of the "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" (DEI) program, the implementation of immigration regulations, and the maintenance of electoral integrity.

He later returned to Trump's 2024 campaign team and immediately served as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser after Trump returned to the White House.

As deputy chief of staff for policy, Miller pushed for the administration to suspend habeas corpus, the right of detainees to challenge the legality of their detention. He also asked the government to triple the daily immigration arrest target to 3,000.

During Trump’s second term as president, one of the government’s most high-profile large-scale immigration enforcement actions was the “Operation Metro Surge” launched in Minneapolis. During the operation, federal law enforcement officers shot and killed two American citizens, whom Miller once described as "domestic terrorists."

Trump was deeply impressed by Miller's ideas on immigration policy and the enthusiasm with which he stirred up crowds on the campaign trail and went to the media to defend Trump. "I love watching him on TV," Trump said of Miller last year.

According to the Capitol Hill newspaper, Wells was seen by some as a check on Miller in the past. Now that she has left the White House, this check and balance will also disappear.

The chief of staff does not need to be appointed with the consent of the Federal Senate, but has always been regarded as the second most powerful position in the White House, second only to the president himself. The chief of staff works closely with the president on daily affairs, manages the White House staff, controls who can meet with the president, and may be involved in all policy decisions, depending on the individual chief of staff.

In addition to Miller himself, his wife Katie Miller also established her own position during the Trump administration and has extensive connections in the Republican Party.