By Mark Antonio Wright
Saturday, November 07, 2026
At various points during each of Donald Trump’s two
presidencies, the political class has looked up in astonishment and exclaimed,
“Goodness me! It looks like Donald Trump is going to govern like Donald Trump!”
I don’t know why anyone should have been surprised.
Whatever else you or I may think of him, it was always clear that Donald Trump
was going to do things his own way. With the appointment of Stephen Miller as White House chief of
staff, we have arrived at another one of those moments.
Ever since the heady days of the 2016 campaign, which he
joined first as a policy adviser and speechwriter, Miller has proved to be one
of Trump’s most combative surrogates. Notably, in the second Trump
administration, his role has grown in influence and power.
“In addition to helping oversee the militarized crackdown
of the U.S.-Mexico border,” the New York Times’s Zolan Kanno-Youngs and
Hamed Aleaziz report, Miller “set in motion the suspension of U.S. refugee
programs and the deadly deportation crackdowns on American streets.”
But his influence
during Mr. Trump’s second term has extended beyond immigration policy. He also
pushed Mr. Trump’s lethal strikes on civilian boats in the Caribbean that the
administration claimed were carrying drugs. He helped use the powers of the federal
government to target political opponents and universities, and oversaw the
federal crackdown in the District of Columbia.
My own view is that Miller’s extreme performative
combativeness — even when defending what should be defensible policy positions
— is not always helpful to the administration he serves. He usually comes off
indignant, heated, and like he’s trying to win a debating point in whatever the
argument is of that moment; there seems to be little thought to strategically
advancing the ball down the field more generally. After the Trump
administration’s remarkable and manifest success in securing the U.S.-Mexico border
in the early months of 2025, Miller had a notable hand in pushing not only the
policy but the messaging around what became the draconian and unpopular
ICE crackdowns in major U.S. cities that culminated with the unrest in
Minneapolis last winter.
When Miller publicly branded two U.S. citizens killed
during federal immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis “domestic
terrorists” and “would-be assassins,” can anyone argue with a straight face
that Miller was helping the administration’s political position? On the
contrary, there’s simply no doubt that Miller’s overheated rhetoric around his
preferred policy contributed to the steep decline in the popularity of strict
immigration enforcement. (We know that Trump saw the declining political
utility of ICE’s heavy presence in Minnesota because the president, who has
made a career out of a reputation for never backing down, backed down.)
A year on, however, Miller now finds himself empowered
and elevated to chief of staff in the White House, a position of immense power
and influence. For anyone wondering whether the Trump administration would learn any lessons from its midterm shellacking and pivot to
pursuing policies more in line with the public’s preferences, it’s unlikely
that Miller is going to be the one driving a course correction.
Expect Stephen Miller to double down on Trumpism. That
may or may not bring the Trump administration wins on policy. It may or may not
be an effective strategy to delay, distract, and defuse Democratic
congressional investigations into the administration’s actions and potential
corruption.
But just don’t expect the Trump administration’s actions
under Miller’s influence to suddenly become politically popular. The track
record, in fact, points to the opposite as the most likely outcome.
I can already hear the gasps and whispers: Goodness gracious! Donald Trump is going to govern like Donald Trump!
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