Stephen Miller Was a Conservative in College Who Wrote About Stronger Borders and Terrorism

During President Donald Trump's first term, he brought on Stephen Miller as a senior policy advisor. He was also President Trump's director of speechwriting and helped pen his 2017 inaugural address. Where the young upstart really hit his stride was in immigration policy, According to Politico, he held weekly meetings aimed at crafting hard-line approaches to immigration. This led to the January 2017 travel ban, which was also known as the Muslim ban.

This is the first time we got a hint of the way Miller operated, using a flood-the-zone tactic meant to "'shock and awe' the federal government and the American people, avoiding the legislative process and instead leaning on executive orders Trump could sign himself," reported Politico. Miller is still using this strategy in Trump's second term, though he appears to have turned it up to 11. Some have questioned the legality of Miller's ideas. Is he a lawyer? Here's what we know.

Not only is Miller not a lawyer but while attending Duke University between 2003 and 2007, he was so caught up in planning a 9/11 memorial that he skipped his LSAT exam, per Politico. "The reality was that I was attending college on a campus where many professors had radical beliefs and engaged in outrageous behavior," said Miller about his time at Duke. He had a voice at Duke's student newspaper by way of a biweekly column called "Miller Time."

While writing for The Chronicle, Miller published 20 articles that were already alarming examples of his current political ideology. In his final column, Miller wrote, "We are told not to speak truthfully or even clearly, but instead in a fashion that is politically correct. These politically correct dictates are anathema to American values." He also wrote about stronger borders and terrorism quite frequently.

Miller graduated from Duke in 2007 with a degree in political science, which landed him a job as press secretary for U.S. representatives Michele Bachmann and John Shadegg. Two years later, Miller stepped into the role of communications director for Senator Jeff Sessions, who was the United States attorney general under President Trump during his first administration. That was the in Miller needed to start working for Trump in 2016.

If one had to pay Miller a compliment, it would be that he has always been consistent with his beliefs. Although his parents are Democrats, Miller turned to conservativism after reading former NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre's 1994 book, Guns, Crime, and Freedom.

In March 2025, Miller went on Fox News's The Story, where he had what many have described as a meltdown. When host Martha MacCallum asked Miller about President Trump's use of wartime authority to deport migrants, wondering if it would hold up legally, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy lost it.

MacCallum specifically brought up MSNBC pundit Andrew Weissmann’s argument that the president shouldn't be able to use an 18th-century law meant for times of war when there was no war. "First of all, Andrew Weissmann is an absolute moron," said Miller. "He is a moron, and he is a fool, and he’s a degenerate." Miller continued to spew vitriol directed toward Weissman, at one point saying he defends "illegal alien rapists, terrorists, and predators." It was a lot.