Stephen Miller's influence in eclipse as Trump ducks him to avoid getting an 'earful'

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller's grip on Trump administration policy is reportedly slipping as the president keeps his most ideologically rigid advisor at arm's length — a shift that coincides with a dramatic pullback in aggressive ICE enforcement and the sidelining of Miller by new DHS leadership.

According to reporting from The Atlantic, Miller's "waning influence" is no coincidence. The controversial activities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have fallen from the front pages as the agency retrenches following the firing of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Miller's marginalization within the administration's immigration policy apparatus.

"Miller's influence is on the wane," The Atlantic reports, though White House insiders maintain that Miller remains a top adviser with a "singular relationship" to Trump built over the past decade and that his job is not in jeopardy, the report makes clear.

Trump, who has previously joked that Miller's "truest feelings" are so extreme they should not be aired publicly, has told others in recent weeks that he understands Miller sometimes crosses the line. According to advisers, Trump recognized immediately after the killing of Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti that policy needed to shift — and he rejected Miller's public characterization of Pretti as a "domestic terrorist."

"I think the president knows very, very well what he can go to Stephen for, and what he probably shouldn't tell him if he doesn't want to get an earful," one former administration official told the Atlantic.

Another adviser offered a blunter assessment: "The president knows who he is, period."

The power dynamics have fundamentally shifted. In contrast to last year's DHS funding negotiations where Miller played a central role, border czar Tom Homan and new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin led this year's Capitol Hill talks, according to DHS officials.

While Miller continues conducting daily 10 a.m. conference calls with senior DHS officials and other immigration enforcement agencies, the general tone has become markedly less demanding in recent weeks.

"The new secretary is listening to Tom Homan and [CBP commissioner] Rodney Scott before he is ever listening to Stephen Miller," a senior administration insider told The Atlantic. "We just have law enforcement in charge."

Homan's pragmatic approach has become predominant, and the department has been quietly reversing changes that Miller ordered — a striking reversal from Miller's earlier dominance over immigration policy under Trump.