White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks to reporters outside the West Wing on August 29. Photo / Tom Brenner, for The Washington Post
From the head of the conference table in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, Stephen Miller was in the weeds of United States President Donald Trump’s takeover of policing in the nation’s capital.
The White House deputy chief of staff wanted to know where exactly groups of law enforcement officers would be deployed.
He declared that cleaning up Washington DC was one of Trump’s most important domestic policy issues and that Miller himself planned to be involved for a long time.
Miller’s remarks were described to the Washington Post by two people with knowledge of the meeting.
The result is a behind-the-scenes glimpse of one of Trump’s most trusted aides in action.
He’s someone who has emerged as a key enforcer of the DC operation in the month since Trump federalised the local police department and deployed thousands of National Guard troops to patrol city streets.
While widely seen as a vocal proponent for the President’s push on immigration and law and order, Miller’s actions reveal how much he is actually driving that agenda inside the White House.
“It’s his thing,” one White House official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Security, crime, law enforcement - it’s his wheelhouse.”
Miller’s team provides an updated report each morning on the arrests made the night before to staff from the White House, Justice Department, and Department of Homeland Security, among others. The readouts include a breakdown of how many of those arrested are undocumented immigrants.
He has also led weekly meetings in the Roosevelt Room with his staff and members of the DC mayor’s office. Last week, he brought Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to two people briefed on the meeting. It’s unclear why Bessent attended the meeting.
A person familiar with Bessent’s thinking said he was encouraged by DC officials’ enthusiasm and collaborative tone.
Miller frequently frames Trump’s approach to crime-fighting as a moral and spiritual war against those who oppose him.
“I would say to the mayors of all these Democrat cities, like Chicago, what you are doing to your own citizens is evil. Subjecting your own citizens to this constant bloodbath and then rejoicing in it is evil,” Miller said on Fox News. “You should praise God every single day that President Trump is in the White House.”
Trump has signalled that his crackdown on cities will continue, recently naming Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore and Oakland, California, as places that might require federal intervention.
Critics have characterised the moves as counterproductive, a waste of federal resources and illegal. Supporters see the effort as bringing long-awaited relief to cities afflicted by violent crime.
In DC, crime was already trending down before Trump moved to take over the police department, according to city data. But rates have decreased further when comparing the 15 days before the August 11 order with the 15 days after Trump’s operation, with violent crime decreasing by roughly 30% and property crime decreasing by roughly 16%.
Since Trump initiated an unprecedented incursion into DC affairs, the city has transformed from a place that proudly welcomed immigrants into one primed for their deportations.
DC police officers now work with agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who have detained people in front of schools and restaurants.
Park Police officers, now operating as beat cops, have chased vehicles with tinted windows, fake tags and broken headlights - a major departure from a city policy to avoid pursuits that pose safety threats. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (Democrat) has attributed the drop in crime to the federal surge.
Miller and others close to Trump have celebrated the changes in Washington, which they see as a winning political issue and central to their plans to host a series of events for America’s 250th birthday next year.
White House officials expect the increased federal law enforcement presence to continue in the District to the end of 2026 - a period that would not only come after the semi quincentennial celebrations but also the Midterm elections. DC officials have not publicly committed to that timeline.
Last week, members of the Republican National Committee were briefed on a call about the DC crime operation, getting data on arrests and talking points for how to tout the initiative in their states.
Bowser and other top DC officials have gone out of their way to show willingness to work with Trump and his staff, positioning themselves as allies in his public safety crackdown.
They see that tactic as their best chance at maintaining power given DC’s unique status under the US Constitution, which grants Congress ultimate say over city laws and budgets.
Miller has been less involved in working directly with the mayor.
City Administrator Kevin Donahue, Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah and the DC police department’s executive assistant chief Jeffery Carroll have all attended Miller’s weekly meetings in the Roosevelt Room.
Bowser has maintained a separate line of communication with Attorney-General Pam Bondi and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, with Bondi speaking with Bowser sometimes daily, the White House official said.
Two weeks ago, as Trump’s complaints about the mayor escalated, Bondi and Wiles met Bowser at the White House. Soon afterwards, Bowser gave White House officials an executive order to review - which ultimately ordered indefinite co-ordination between the city and federal law enforcement officials. The President has since changed his tune on Bowser, holding her up as an example of how blue-city mayors should behave.
“Everyone at the White House is pleased with Mayor Bowser and the ongoing partnership,” a White House official said.
Miller has made a point of being seen around the city since Trump infused it with federal troops. Last month, he appeared at a DC police station to address line officers and visited Union Station with Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
As deputy chief of staff, Miller oversees Trump’s domestic policy agenda.
He also serves in the lesser-known role of homeland security adviser, directing roughly 40 federal law enforcement officers in the Homeland Security Investigation division assigned to work on DC crime.
Miller and his deputy on homeland security matters - a veteran law enforcement officer whose name the White House has declined to publicise - are also in close contact with the other federal and DC law enforcement agencies, the White House official said.
White House officials emphasised that Miller is acting on behalf of the President, who is personally invested in producing a successful operation. The officials said that his top domestic policy priority at the moment is reducing crime in large cities nationwide.
Every day, those around him say, Trump inquires about the details of the DC operation. He has asked questions about the people arrested and how many guns and drugs officers seized from the streets, the White House official said.
“As President Trump has said himself many times, making DC safe and beautiful again is a top priority for the entire Trump Administration,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson.
“The results of the highly successful operation speak for itself. President Trump has driven down crime in the District, removed countless violent criminals from the streets, and kick-started beautification efforts to make DC the greatest city in the world.”
Miller and his homeland security deputy, along with Terry Cole, the Drug Enforcement Administration chief whom Trump named DC’s “emergency police commissioner” last month; Gady Serralta, director of the US Marshals Service; Bondi; and representatives from the FBI have all met Trump a handful of times since Trump signed the emergency declaration about DC, according to the White House official.
By law, Trump’s federalisation of the DC police force lasts 30 days and is set to expire this week.
The White House has not announced its next steps, but those who know Miller say he almost certainly has a plan.
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