Washington (United States) (AFP) – Donald Trump announced Friday that he was appointing Stephen Miller, a figure of the identitarian right, to the very strategic position of White House chief of staff. This faithful advisor to the American president is notably the architect of the very offensive migration policy of the current government.
Published on: 06/11/2026 - 20:30 Modified on: 06/11/2026 - 22:06
Donald Trump describes him as one of his “most trusted advisors”. Stephen Miller, architect of his very offensive anti-immigration policy, was promoted to chief of staff by the American president.
This is the first major reshuffle within the American executive branch after the monumental defeat recorded by the Republican Party during the mid-term elections, interpreted as a wholesale rejection of the first two years of Trump's second term.
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The 41-year-old advisor will take office on Monday, replacing the current chief of staff, Susie Wiles, according to Donald Trump. He indicated on his social network Truth Social that the latter would be called upon to occupy other positions in the billionaire's orbit, outside the government. “I want to thank her, she did a great job,” he added.
“Trump’s brain”
Faithful among the faithful, Stephen Miller was until then the eminence grise, extremist and ultra powerful, behind the issues of the fight against immigration - the centerpiece of the American president's program.
Stephen Miller regularly leaves the White House to outdo the president's comments in front of the cameras, often attacking journalists.
Always dressed in elegant suits, his remarks echo the speeches of the radical right on a supposed decline of the West in the face of the “invasion” of migrants. For him, the subject is existential.
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The advisor's influence would be sprawling, according to the book "Regime Change" (untranslated into French), which describes a man quick to attack his teams harshly.
“Stephen Miller is the ‘brain of Trump’,” Kevin McCarthy, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, told the New York Times, just before the Republican president’s inauguration in January 2025.
The Californian “Voldemort”
It was Stephen Miller, according to the Wall Street Journal, who in May 2025 ordered ICE, the immigration police, to redouble their efforts when the number of daily expulsions was lower than that recorded the previous year under Joe Biden.
In Los Angeles, this order led to an ICE raid on a DIY store which triggered clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement and ultimately, to Donald Trump's decision to deploy the military against the advice of the Democratic governor of California, Gavin Newsom.
The advisor, who grew up in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, then forcefully defended the president's decision against those who accused him of authoritarianism.
“We've been saying it for years, it's a fight to save civilization,” said Stephen Miller, nicknamed “Voldemort” by Gavin Newsom's entourage, giving him a resemblance to the evil character from Harry Potter.
In January, he quickly described Alex Pretti, an American killed by federal agents in Minneapolis against the backdrop of demonstrations against the presence of ICE, as a "terrorist", before reversing his statements, not without having created controversy.
Rising figure of the identity right
David Horowitz, an influential conservative ideologue, offered him his ticket into ultraconservative circles, where he met figures like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson before joining, at the age of 30, Donald Trump's first campaign. During Trump's first term (2017-2021), Stephen Miller's ideas still seemed marginal.
He was an architect of the "Muslim ban", these restrictions on entry into the territory imposed on nationals of predominantly Muslim countries, which then came up against the courts.
The advisor also unreservedly supported his boss when pro-Trump demonstrators stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's victory.
Democratic reactions
The position of chief of staff, “chief of staff” in English, is perhaps the most strategic in the American executive branch. In France, he is similar to that of secretary general of the Élysée.
Its function consists of filtering the information and the people who have access to the head of state, while oiling the cogs of government action on a daily basis.
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The leader of the Democrats in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, pledged on Friday to “fight foot by foot” the new White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, whom he describes as “the architect of the most barbaric and inhumane policies” of the Trump administration.
“Donald Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat,” Chuck Schumer said on social networks, a few days after the Republicans' defeat in the mid-term elections, adding that the American president “could not have made a worse choice” than Stephen Miller, current advisor to the Republican billionaire and supporter of a hard line against immigration.
“Stephen Miller is a dangerous xenophobe and a crazy extremist who has American blood on his hands,” protested Hakeem Jeffries, leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, the other component of the American Congress.
With AFP
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