Days after Republicans suffered historic setbacks in the midterm elections, President Donald Trump announced Stephen Miller would replace Susie Wiles as his chief of staff.
The White House said Miller,
who has been White House deputy chief of staff for policy and a homeland security adviser throughout Trump's second term, has "served alongside President Trump since the very beginning and has been a driving force behind the Administration's major successes." He's set to begin the role on Nov. 9.
Here's what Miller has said about some of the Trump administration's biggest — and most contentious — policies to date.
Immigration
Miller has been a key supporter of Trump's immigration enforcement efforts, defending the administration's mass deportation campaign amid widespread criticism and controversy.
That included after Border Patrol agents killed 37-year-old protester Alex Pretti in Minnesota in January. Miller initially called Pretti a "domestic terrorist" who "tried to assassinate federal law enforcement." He later said such characterizations were based on reports from Customs and Border Protection personnel in Minnesota and that officials were investigating why federal officers "may not have been following" protocol during the incident.
Months later, Miller welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to allow the federal government to turn back asylum seekers at the U.S. border.
"America's doors are closed, fully, to asylum seekers," Miller told reporters at the White House.
After the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship days later, Miller called it "one of the most destructive and outrageous decisions" in the court's history. He has called for an end to the practice, saying citizenship "has to be sacred and precious" in a Fox News interview.
Miller also defended the migrant family separation policy during Trump's first term. In a 2018 interview with The New York Times, he said it was part of a "zero tolerance policy for illegal entry" and that it signals "no one is exempt from immigration law."
Muslim ban
Miller helped craft what became known as the "Muslim ban" during Trump's first term in office.
Within days of starting his presidency in 2017, Trump sought to suspend travel from several Muslim-majority countries for 90 days and block travel from Syria indefinitely. Miller maintained that Trump had the authority to impose such restrictions, telling Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" that the administration was considering additional actions to prevent admitting people who are "hostile" to the "nation and its values."
After it was struck down in court, Miller said a revised plan would have "mostly minor technical differences" but keep the "same basic policy outcome for the country."
Trump later issued a revised policy that targeted six countries and exempted visa- and green card-holders. Another iteration, which added restrictions on countries including North Korea and Venezuela, followed that September.
The Supreme Court upheld Trump's travel ban in 2018.
Venezuela
Miller defended Trump's attack on Venezuela in early January that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The pair remain in detention at a Brooklyn jail and face charges including torture, narcoterrorism and weapons offenses.
Miller said the United States was "by definition" in control of Venezuela and called it "one of the greatest foreign policy and military victories this country has ever had" in a Jan. 5 interview with CNN's Jake Tapper.
"The objective ... is security and stability for the people of Venezuela," Miller said. "With our help and leadership, that country will become more prosperous than it has ever been in its whole history."
Israel
Miller is pro-Israel and has defended Israel's right to defend itself, particularly in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
"Israel, to survive in such a savage world, must show Hamas, and all watching, the rage it feels on behalf of its tortured and murdered families," he wrote on X weeks later.
He also tied "anti-Israel sentiment among America's youth" to "large-scale immigration" and criticized former President Joe Biden's administration after pro-Palestine protesters vandalized the Los Angeles National Cemetery in early 2024. In an X post, Miller wrote that the federal government had "continued to allow radical Palestinian agitators to wreak havoc across the United States."
Miller also supported the joint U.S.-Israeli mission that began a new war in Iran earlier this year.
BrieAnna Frank's role covering First Amendment issues at USA TODAY is made possible by a collaboration among Freedom Forum, Journalism Funding Partners and the USA TODAY Network. Freedom Forum does not provide editorial input. Reach BrieAnna at bjfrank@usatoday.com and @brieannafrank on X and Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What Stephen Miller has said about Trump's most controversial policies
