‘The President Knows Who He Is’: Stephen Miller Reportedly Sidelined by Trump Admin

LEFT: Donald Trump and Tom Homan (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) RIGHT: Stephen Miller (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller is reportedly far less influential now than he was at the outset of President’ Donald Trump’s second term.

According to The Atlantic‘s Michael Scherer and Nick Miroff, Trump “has also told others in recent weeks that he understands Miller sometimes goes too far.” Miller’s power began to wane when Trump “recognized immediately after the second killing in Minneapolis, of the protester Alex Pretti, that the policy needed to shift. Miller, on the other hand, referred to Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” in the immediate aftermath of his death.

Recent months have seen Trump backpedal away from numerous policies advocated by Miller, including a plan to cut the number of visas for seasonal workers by 50%, after consulting with border czar Tom Homan.

“The new secretary is listening to Tom Homan and Rodney Scott before he is ever listening to Stephen Miller,” one senior administration official told Scherer and Miroff.

A former official declared, “The president knows who he is, period.”

From The Atlantic‘s story:

There have been no accounts of clashes or tension between Homan and Miller, and the former has even praised the latter as “one of the most brilliant people I’ve met in my entire life.” But from the start of the administration, they have advocated for different approaches to Trump’s mass-deportation campaign. Miller has emphasized sheer numbers, and Homan prefers a quality-over-quantity approach that prioritizes immigrants with criminal records. “I have always worked, and continue to work closely, with Stephen and now Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin to deliver on the President’s commitment to the American people,” Homan told us in a statement.

But Homan’s approach is the predominant one right now, and the department has been quietly reversing changes that Miller ordered. Miller had pushed aggressively to fast-track training for new ICE hires, slashing the academy course to about eight weeks. The accelerated schedule alarmed veteran ICE officers, and the hiring surge was marred by high dropout rates. In recent weeks, ICE reverted to a four-and-a-half-month training program similar to its former academy course, according to three officials who were not authorized to discuss the change.

Still, Scherer and Miroff reported that “White House insiders said that Miller remains a top adviser to the president, that he has a singular relationship to Trump built over the past decade, and that his job is not in jeopardy.”

A bombshell report from The New York Times last March suggested that at the peak of his powers, Miller was setting “the agenda” for the Trump Department of Justice.

“It was clear from the start that Mr. Miller, who is not a lawyer, would exercise control inside the department, current and former Trump aides said,” observed the Gray Lady at the time.

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