The White House would like the public to know that Stephen Miller definitely does not play with dolls.
Miller, who has driven some of President Donald Trump’s most controversial policies from his perch as deputy chief of staff for policy, was the focus of an unflattering Rolling Stone profile Sunday.
Inside the West Wing, the hot-tempered adviser is apparently a fixture of backroom chatter, with Trump officials and Republicans close to the president “paranoid that Miller will one day hear them gossiping about him behind his back.”
Among the longest-running digs, dating back to his time working for then-Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions during the Obama years: Republican staffers on Capitol Hill used to whisper that Miller “liked to play with porcelain dolls.”
Rolling Stone’s report on rumors of Miller’s doll play prompted an official White House denial.
“A White House official insists that any such characterization of his time on the Hill is “inaccurate and baseless gossip,” Rolling Stone wrote.
The outlet noted that the conservative staffers who spread malicious rumors about Miller “never dreamed that he’d ever amount to much more than a punch line or an obscure cautionary tale of what happens when you read too many far-right hate websites and dive into Washington’s most feverish swamps”—perhaps a marker of how deeply the GOP has transformed in the Trump era.
Even today, Miller, 40, reportedly remains the target of nicknames among those in Trumpworld mocking his high-strung demeanor and domineering presence in the White House.
Rolling Stone listed favorites like, “Shadow Sec Def,” “Prime Minister Miller,” “The REAL Attorney General,” “The DHS boss,” and “President Miller.”
MAGA Republicans speak of the president’s policy architect, who has a history of expressing extremist views, with a “unique mix of admiration and unease,” according to Rolling Stone.
“One intense motherf—er,” a longtime Trump adviser told the outlet, which noted that attempts by Miller’s friends to “make him sound gentler, kinder, or funnier often fall flat.”
Even Trump himself has insulted Miller behind his back, Rolling Stone reported, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
Trump’s biographer Michael Wolff previously said on The Daily Beast Podcast that the president has a less-than-flattering nickname for one of his most loyal henchmen: “Weird Stephen.”
Still, Miller shapes much of Trump’s contentious agenda, pressuring immigration agencies to ramp up deportations and touting the deployment of the military in D.C. and in his hometown of Los Angeles while making alarmist claims about law and order.
When reached for comment, a White House official referred the Daily Beast to a list of testimonials also provided to Rolling Stone.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt personally vouched for Miller.
“Stephen Miller has been one of President Trump’s longest serving and most trusted advisers for nearly a decade, and I can personally attest to the respect that President Trump has for Stephen because I witness it every day. That’s why Stephen serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security adviser because the President has the utmost faith in him and his proven leadership abilities,” Leavitt said in her testimonial. “In addition to being extremely effective at his jobs, Stephen is a loyal colleague and friend. Any suggestion otherwise is false gossip from people who don’t actually know him.”
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