Washington. Trump's first consequence of the Republicans' clear election defeat was completely different than many in the Republican Party would have wanted: He promoted the previous White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, to chief of staff - and fired Susie Wiles. Wiles was seen as an orderly, more moderate force in the government, Miller was likely to act in the opposite direction.
Three facts are important to understand the significance of this decision:
1. Miller is an immigration hardliner
Miller is the architect of Trump's controversial immigration policies - policies that cost Republicans many votes in the November 3 election. Miller advances his extreme positions in this area with a vehemence and acrimony that The New Yorker magazine once described as an “obsession.”
“The single most important issue affecting the future of our country is ending the Third World’s mass invasion of America,” he said this summer. Miller promotes the narrative that people immigrate to America solely to take advantage of the American system. He speaks of “millions” of people who came to the USA just to receive financial support. He doesn't provide any evidence for this.
When two American citizens were shot dead by ICE employees on the street at the beginning of the year in quick succession during protests against the massive crackdown by the immigration agency ICE, Miller described the victims as “terrorists” without any evidence of violence on their part.
Miller also repeatedly adopts a radical tone in the discussion about whether children born in the USA receive American citizenship directly. Addressing Americans, he said, "Birthright means that the children of illegal immigrants can vote to tax their children and confiscate their inheritance."
Miller also supported the practice of systematically separating families when they tried to cross the US border illegally, which was widespread during Trump's first term. Thousands of children, even the smallest ones, were separated from their parents and held in institutions for weeks or months.
The conditions in the centers where the children were kept at that time were sometimes catastrophic. After a visit to such a facility in Texas, a group of lawyers criticized the fact that there was a great risk of serious health and psychological harm for children in these accommodations. The children do not have adequate adult care, there is not enough food, and basic hygiene items such as soap and toothpaste are missing.
Miller's comment on the practice in an interview with The New York Times at the time: "It was a simple decision by the government to pursue a zero-tolerance policy toward illegal entry, period. The message is: No one is exempt from immigration law."
Miller's ultra-hard line against immigrants runs through his entire political career.
2. Miller is not a conciliator
In the midterm elections, the Democrats not only won the majority in the Senate, but also in the House of Representatives. Trump is therefore dependent on cooperation with the opposing party, particularly on budget issues in the last two years of his term in office. In addition, the Democrats have already announced that they will open numerous investigations against members of the government.
Against this backdrop, even Republicans saw Miller's promotion as a sign that the next two years will be more confrontational than cooperative.
Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina who was defeated by Trump in the midterm primaries, called the decision for Miller a “bad mistake” in an interview with CNN. Not just because US voters - especially from the Latino ethnic group - spoke out against the current border policy.
Miller is also one of the “most polarizing personalities in terms of party politics, not only in the relationship between Republicans and Democrats, but even within the Republicans themselves,” said Tillis. “How will someone with a background as divisive as Stephen Miller behave?” he asked rhetorically.
Miller often speaks in an aggressive, irritable tone and uses drastic language, especially when it comes to the Democrats. Speaking to Fox News last summer, he said: "The Democratic Party is not a political party. It is a domestic extremist organization."
He repeatedly described James Talarico, who won the Texas Senate seat for the Democrats in the midterm elections for the first time in decades, as “sick and disturbed” and a “raging madman.”
3. Miller is radical in foreign policy
Miller is one of Trump's longest-standing companions. He already supported his first election campaign in 2016. During Trump's first term in office, Miller had considerable influence on his tough and controversial migration policy. In 2018, he was one of the architects of the so-called Muslim ban, a policy that blanketly barred people from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.
Miller's main topic is immigration policy, but he also occasionally intervenes in foreign policy. In January he spoke out in favor of the annexation of Greenland and did not rule out a military US invasion. “No one will go to war militarily against the United States over the future of Greenland,” he said.
Miller was also criticized for these statements by the Republican Party. “He damaged relations with our most important allies in Europe,” Tillis accused Miller.
The design of Miller's Miller, man of power, on par with two of the most powerful leaders in the world.
