What to know about Stephen Miller, Trump's potential next national security adviser

Stephen Miller's background

Miller, 39, grew up in a Jewish and liberal Democratic household in Santa Monica, California, he said in a 2021 episode of Newt Gingrich's podcast.

• He said he first connected with conservative literature in middle school, and became Republican and conservative in his thinking by age 16.
• Miller graduated in 2007 from Duke University, where he studied political science and served as a conservative columnist for the school paper.
• He then launched his career in D.C., where he worked for then-Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and then-Arizona Rep. John Shadegg, followed by then-Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Trump's first campaign and administration

Miller is one of the few officials in Trump 2.0 who also served in the first administration — and he served all four years, which was a rarity.

• He left Sessions' team to join the Trump campaign in 2016 as a senior policy adviser. He often wrote speeches for Trump, including the keynote at the 2016 Republican National Convention, and was later named head of Trump's economic policy team.
• Once Trump was elected, Miller became national policy director of Trump's transition team and then a senior advisor to the president — a role initially intended for setting domestic policy that later become centered chiefly around immigration policy.

Miller's role in Trump 2.0: Immigration architect

Miller is currently Trump's deputy chief of staff and the administration's Homeland Security adviser.

• He is considered to be the brain behind Trump's controversial immigration crackdown, which includes plans for mass deportations.
• Miller is an aggressive defender of the legal push for immediate deportations of unauthorized immigrants without court hearings, Axios' Marc Caputo reports.

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• Scoop: Stephen Miller emerges as top contender for Trump's next national security adviser
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• Stephen Miller's outside army