Stephen Miller, the Man Who Whispers in Trump's Ear

President Donald Trump's new chief of staff, Stephen Miller, is one of his top advisers, a hardliner on immigration policy, which he considers an essential tool to "save Western civilization."

Proudly loyal to Trump and his populist Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, Miller is 41 years old and is not a shadow adviser, as the discreet Susie Wiles was for nearly two years before he replaced her as chief of staff.

Always dressed in impeccably tailored suits, equally at ease before MAGA fans as before the cameras, Miller does not shy away from debates.

A graduate of Duke University, where he edited a conservative student newspaper, Miller designed the presidential decree policy that Trump has used massively, without hesitating to invoke laws enacted decades ago or even in the 19th century to justify everything from immigration raids to tariffs.

"The Ruins of the West"

It was Miller who, according to The Wall Street Journal, gave orders to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to increase the number of detainees and deportees this year.

Those orders led to the immigration raids at a Home Depot store in Los Angeles last year that triggered clashes between protesters and federal agents, and to Trump's decision to send thousands of soldiers.

Miller, who grew up in Santa Monica (Los Angeles), turned without hesitation to social media to confront Democrats who accused Trump of authoritarianism.

"We have been saying for years that this is a fight to save civilization. Anyone with eyes can see it," Miller said.

In January of this year, other incidents—the shooting of two people by ICE in Minneapolis—reignited criticism, but Miller decided to call for even more detentions.

When Congress was debating the major legislative project of Trump's second term in the middle of last year, Miller retorted: "We will be debating these matters over the ruins of the West if we do not control migration."

Miller largely avoided the chaotic internal struggles that dominated the White House during Trump's first term. This adviser, who likes to appear before the cameras, remained loyal and stayed by his boss's side even when the Republican magnate's first government culminated in the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The Musk Episode

In the second Trump administration, Miller's ideas have become mainstream.

"I call Stephen 'Trump's brain,'" former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, told The New York Times just before the January inauguration.

Miller was the driving force, in particular, behind the use of an obscure 200-year-old wartime law to deport undocumented migrants.

He scandalized the opposition again when he stated on May 9 that the White House was "evaluating" suspending habeas corpus for migrants subject to deportation.

His good fortune was only clouded when Miller and his wife Katie became caught up in the explosive breakup between Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk.

Katie Miller had been a senior adviser and spokesperson at Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and, according to press reports, was about to leave to work at Musk's companies when he abruptly left the White House.