Meet Stephen Miller, US’ anti-immigrant crusader, accusing India of financing Russia’s war against Ukraine

India’s purchase of oil from Russia continues to be a sticking point in Indo-US ties. After US President Donald Trump announced a penalty on India for buying oil from Moscow in addition to a 25 per cent tariff last week, now his top aide defended his move, stating that it was “not acceptable”.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller in perhaps the strongest remarks made by the Trump administration on the issue said, “What he (Trump) said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia… People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That’s an astonishing fact.”

He claimed that Trump “wants a tremendous relationship and has had always a tremendous relationship with India” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “But we need to get real about dealing with the financing of this war… So, President Trump, all options are on the table to deal diplomatically, financially and otherwise with the ongoing war in Ukraine, so we can achieve peace,” he added.

More from Explainers

Irony in West, and Trump's America, accusing India of 'funding' Ukraine war Trump pledges to raise tariffs on India over Russian oil. Why this may not deter New Delhi

As India tries to negotiate with the US on this pain point, we take a closer look at Miller, who, in the past, has been critical of H1-B visas as well as Indian immigration to America.

Rise and rise of Stephen Miller

Appointed as deputy chief of staff at the White House, Miller is considered as one of Trump’s closest aides and his longtime adviser.

A son of affluent Jewish parents, Miller grew up in California’s Santa Monica where many residents are foreign born. He embraced conservative ideas as far back as high school and developed a reputation early in his political career as a provocateur.

Editor’s Picks

1

Trump’s ‘penalty’ tariff threat: How much Russian oil does India buy? What are the other alternatives? 2

Amid ‘penalty’ threat on India, a look at trade between US and Russia

In Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda, the only biography on Miller, there’s an episode which recounts how Miller suddenly ditched one of his closest friends, Jason Islas, on the grounds of his ethnicity.

At 16, he also wrote an article for a local website expressing contempt for Hispanic students in his school. “Am I the only one who is sick and tired of being told to pick up my trash when we have plenty of janitors who are paid to do it for us?” he wrote.

Following his education, Miller moved to Washington and served as a press secretary to Michele Bachmann, then a Republican representative for Minnesota, before moving to work for Jeff Sessions, at the time a right-wing Alabama senator who later became Trump’s first attorney general.

In 2015, Miller took a leave of absence from working with Sessions and began to work with Donald Trump, who had then launched his presidential campaign. On the recommendation of Steve Bannon, then Trump’s campaign chief, Miller was installed as Trump’s speech writer. Following this move, Trump and Miller ensure that the former’s signature issue became immigration.

It was Miller who crafted Trump’s speech for his first inauguration in 2017 and it was him who was behind some of the most controversial policies in Trump 1.0. This included the “ Muslim ban” on travellers from seven majority-Muslim countries and the practice of separating migrant children from their parents at the southern border.

Following Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in 2020, Miller continued to stick by the businessman-turned-politician’s side, making him even more powerful in the inner circle. Eventually when Trump returned to power, so did Miller and he became Trump’s deputy chief of staff at the White House.

Miller’s strong anti-immigration stance

In Trump’s second term as president, Miller has maintained his strong anti-immigration stance. In fact, two days after Trump came to power, it was Miller who drafted the order that cancelled birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants. The order was challenged in the courts and is now with the Supreme Court.

Even during Trump’s first tenure, Miller pushed for restrictive measures that reshaped how H-1B visas were processed, affecting thousands of Indians. In 2017, he even proposed scrapping the lottery system to award the H1-B visas altogether to make for a fair distribution of the much sought after visas.

In addition to being deputy chief of staff at the White House, Miller is also tasked with heading the White House’s Homeland Security Council, which coordinates immigration and other domestic security policies within the administration.

Miller has pressed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents to intensify efforts to arrest migrants. He has said that the country needs at least 3,000 arrests each and every day, a dizzying increase from the daily average of about 650 in the president’s first five months in office.

Miller’s remarks on India

And on Sunday (August 3), amid trade talks between India and the US, Miller accused India of financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from Moscow.

In an interview to Fox News, Trump’s top aide severely criticised India, also pointing out that it “cheats” on immigration and slams American products with “massive” tariffs. “India portrays itself as being one of our closest friends in the world; but they don’t accept our products, they impose massive tariffs on us, we also know they engage in a lot of cheating on immigration policy,” Miller said.

The comments, the harshest made by a Trump official, came just days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced concern that New Delhi’s continued import of Russian oil is “most certainly a point of irritation” in the relationship between the two nations.

“India is an ally. It’s a strategic partner. But… [their oil trade with Russia] is most certainly a point of irritation in our relationship,” Rubio said in a telephonic interview with Fox Radio. In the interview, Rubio also warned that cheap oil sanctioned by Moscow is still “helping to sustain the Russian war effort” against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, India continues to purchase Russian oil. And Prime Minister Narendra Modi also seemed to strike a defiant note over the weekend, when he said, “Now, whatever we buy, there should be only one scale: we will buy those things which have been made by the sweat of an Indian.”

With inputs from agencies