Pressure is growing on White House senior adviser Stephen Miller after the killing of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by border patrol agents in Minneapolis and the politically divisive aftermath. Miller, the architect of Donald Trump's hardline immigration policy, finds himself in the rare position of being contradicted and excluded from crucial decisions by the US president.
About three and a half hours after the tragedy on Saturday, Miller used social media to describe Pretti, 37, as a “would-be assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents”. On Tuesday, when asked if he believed Pretti was an assassin, Trump said: “No.” The president had held a two-hour meeting with the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, in the Oval Office on Monday evening at Noem’s request. Miller was conspicuously absent.
Meanwhile, the Axios news site, citing four unnamed sources, reported that Miller was responsible for the Department of Homeland Security’s baseless claim that Pretti intended to “massacre” officers, parroted by Noem. “Stephen heard ‘gun’ and knew what the narrative would be: Pretti came to ‘massacre’ cops,” one of the sources said. But on Tuesday, in a statement to CNN, Miller admitted that the border patrol agents “may not have been following” proper protocol before the fatal shooting of Pretti – a rare reversal by a man known for typically reinforcing his positions.
Multiple phone videos made by witnesses exposed the false narrative and prompted an outcry from the public, business leaders and even some Republicans, forcing the president into a partial climbdown on Monday. He decided to pull the border patrol commander Greg Bovino out of Minneapolis and send in his border czar, Tom Homan, who has been critical of Miller’s approach, to “recalibrate tactics” and improve cooperation with state and local officials. The president also held cordial phone calls with Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, and the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey.
That raised a question mark over Noem’s future. More than 160 Democrats in the House of Representatives have signed on to an effort to impeach her. Asked on Tuesday whether the homeland security secretary would step down, Trump insisted that she would not. “I think she’s doing a very good job,” he said. “The border is totally secure.” But arguably the true culprit of the Minneapolis debacle is Miller, who is officially the White House deputy chief of staff but has been likened by some to Trump’s prime minister.
Miller, 40, has proved a master at converting Trump’s impulses into policy. He has been so central to the Make America Great Again project, and so ostentatious in his loyalty, that there seems little chance of him losing his job. But Minneapolis was a rare misstep in which he got ahead of his boss and, some observers believe, he will now take a back seat until the storm passes.
