- Multiple reports have said White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller was the architect behind Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's abrupt resignation, a sign of the adviser's continued influence over President Donald Trump's policies.
- Miller was on the front lines as the Trump administration butted heads with Democratic lawmakers over Trump's wishes for a $5-billion border wall.
- The 34-year-old was previously identified as the driving force behind the Trump administration's controversial immigration policies.
- A rising star on the far right for years, Miller has been making headlines because of his polarizing demeanor and statements long before his time in the administration.
- Recently he's faced calls for resignation after the Southern Poverty Law Center published emails from Miller referencing and linking to publications known for supporting white nationalist ideology.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller was on the front lines as President Donald Trump's administration butted heads with Democratic lawmakers over Trump's wishes for a $5-billion wall along the US-Mexico border.
The 34-year-old was also previously identified as the driving force behind the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy that separated immigrant children from their families at the southern border.
He has been a rising star on the far right for years, often making headlines because of his polarizing demeanor and statements long before The New York Times reported June 16 that he was the origin of the controversial policy.
After Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's abrupt resignation, multiple reports said Miller was behind the department's shake-up in favor of harsher border policies, a sign of the adviser's continued influence on Trump's policies.
After leaked emails showed Miller exchanging links to publications known to support white-nationalist ideology with a Breitbart editor, Miller was called a "bonafide white nationalist" and faced calls from several House committees for his resignation.
One of the few remaining staffers from Trump's 2016 campaign, Miller has also written some of the president's biggest speeches, including Trump's first State of the Union address.
His hard-line positions and knack for policy have made him a force to be reckoned with. But before Miller became a major figure in the Trump administration, he was an outspoken, conservative activist in high school and college who worked on congressional campaigns.
Here's how Miller became Trump's right-hand policy man:
Stephen Miller was born in Santa Monica, California, on August 23, 1985, to a Jewish family whose ancestors fled persecution in what is now Belarus. His family was liberal-leaning, but Miller says he became a stalwart conservative at an early age.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
In 2002, at age 16, Miller wrote in a letter to the editor that "Osama Bin Laden would feel very welcome at Santa Monica High School" because of the student body's anti-war attitude after 9/11. Soon enough, Miller began appearing on conservative talk radio in the Los Angeles area.
Sources: The LookOut, Univision, Politico Magazine
A video emerged in 2017 of his giving a student-government campaign speech at Santa Monica High in which he argued that students shouldn't have to pick up their own trash because there are "plenty of janitors who are paid to do it" for them. The audience quickly booed him off the stage.
Sources: The Washington Post, Politico Magazine
Miller went on to attend Duke University, where he continued to garner controversy as a prominent conservative ideologue. He appeared on CNN and "The O'Reilly Factor" to defend Duke lacrosse players accused of rape, and he sparred with the university's Chicano alliance.
Sources: The Duke Chronicle, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker
At Duke, Miller interacted with the white nationalist Richard Spencer. While Spencer claimed he had mentored Miller during their time at the university, Miller has denied these claims, saying he merely helped him raise money for an immigration debate.
Source: Mother Jones
After graduating with a political-science degree in 2007, Miller worked as a spokesman for the conservative Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and John Shadegg of Arizona.
Sources: Politico Magazine, Vanity Fair
In 2009 he began working for Jeff Sessions, the senator who would later become attorney general, as a policy adviser and communications director.
Sources: Politico Magazine, Vanity Fair
In 2013, the pair led the charge against a bipartisan bill that would have created a path to citizenship for all immigrants living in the US illegally.
Sources: Politico Magazine, Vanity Fair
Alongside Sessions, Miller formulated what he termed "nation-state populism," and he helped other members of Congress campaign. During this period, he also grew close to the Fox News host Tucker Carlson, frequently working with his publication The Daily Caller.
Source: Politico Magazine
Miller joined the Trump campaign in January 2016 as a senior policy adviser.
Sources: Politico Magazine, Washington Post
He quickly cemented his position on the campaign team by writing speeches for Trump, often speaking at rallies himself. He was later appointed to Trump's economic-policy team.
Sources: Politico Magazine, Washington Post
Throughout the campaign, Miller also grew close with the future White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. Miller later invited a host of editors and writers from Breitbart News, which Bannon once headed, for a discussion on immigration at the White House.
Sources: Politico, The Washington Post
After sitting on Trump's transition team, Miller was formally appointed to Trump's policy team in January 2017.
Source: Politico
In his early days in the White House, Miller played a part in enacting Trump's travel ban, which restricted immigration and refugee resettlement, and in cracking down on sanctuary cities. He also lashed out at courts for blocking elements of these policies.
Sources: Politico, Vanity Fair
He has also helped write some of Trump's biggest speeches, including the State of the Union address, his inaugural address, and the keynote he gave at the Republican National Convention in July 2016.
Sources: Politico, The Duke Chronicle, The Washington Post
"Stephen really knows how to capture his voice," the former White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.
Source: The Washington Post
In August, Miller had a combative exchange with the CNN correspondent Jim Acosta at a press conference on limiting immigration and eliminating the visa lottery program. Their back-and-forth on — among other things — the Statue of Liberty, went viral.
Source: Business Insider
Miller had another contentious moment on national television when the CNN host Jake Tapper interviewed him in January 2018. Tapper challenged him on a variety of issues before ending the interview early, and security had to escort Miller out of the studio.
Source: Business Insider
During the government-shutdown negotiations in January, Miller's important role in crafting White House policy was widely acknowledged, but his intractability was criticized.
Source: Politico
"As long as Stephen Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration, we are going nowhere," Sen. Lindsey Graham said at the time.
Source: Politico
In June, The New York Times reported Miller was behind Trump's controversial immigration policy that separates children from their families at the US-Mexico border.
Source: The New York Times
The policy, which separated almost 2,000 children from their families in six weeks, has drawn backlash from both sides of the aisle and Trump administration officials.
Source: Business Insider
Miller told The Times the zero-tolerance policy was a "simple decision" and "the message is that no one is exempt from immigration law."
Source: The New York Times
Miller came back into the spotlight in December as Trump insisted he would force Congress into funding the wall, saying he would be "proud" to shut down the government if they didn't agree to divert $5 billion by the 21st.
Source: Business Insider
In an appearance on Face the Nation, Miller doubled down on Trump's warning, saying the administration was "absolutely" willing to shut down the government if Congress doesn't authorize spending for the wall.
Source: CBS
"If it comes to it, absolutely. This is a very fundamental issue," Miller said of chances for a shutdown. "At stake is the question of whether or not the United States remains a sovereign country. Whether or not we can establish and enforce rules for entrance into our country."
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Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the administration's comments "a temper tantrum" and warned Trump was "not going to get the wall in any form."
Source: NBC News
Amid gridlock between the administration and Senate Democrats, the government entered a partial shutdown on December 22, 2018.
For the next few weeks, talks about border security among Pelosi, Schumer, Trump, and even Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen proved unproductive as the administration dug its heels in over the wall.
Source: Business Insider
After accepting a deal from congressional Democrats that ended the shutdown but provided no money for the wall, Trump declared a national emergency to divert military funds for construction along the border.
Source: Business Insider
These hardline moves match Miller's signature uncompromising policy style. Reports indicated that Nielsen's April 7 resignation was the result of Miller's handiwork to pave the way for harsher policies to curb immigration.
Source: Business Insider
Nielsen's departure raised flags about what appeared to be Miller's ever-growing influence over Trump.
Source: Business Insider
On November 4, it was reported that Miller was engaged to Katie Waldman, Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, just over six weeks after the couple attended Trumps' second state dinner.
Source: Vanity Fair, Business Insider
Waldman previously served as deputy press secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, where she defended the administration's policy of family separations and made several controversial and unproven claims about immigrants.
Source: Business Insider
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed Miller as a "bonafide white nationalist" after leaked emails showed him exchanging links to white-nationalist websites with a Breitbart editor.
Source: Business Insider
Congressional lawmakers, including leaders from the House Progressive Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus issued a joint statement urging Miller to resign.
Source: Business Insider
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham waved off the calls for Miller's resignation and took aim at the Southern Poverty Law Center for publishing the emails.
Source: Axios
After almost two years as a controversial figure who has been vocally pursuing hard-line conservative agendas since his teens, Miller shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
