Stephen Miller is not mentioned by name in the Mandate for Leadership document, but his organization America First Legal (AFL), which he founded in 2021, is listed among Project 2025’s supporters on page xi of the document. He was also in Project 2025’s Presidential Administration Academy video.
After Trump claimed he was not connected to Project 2025, Stephen Miller has followed suit in trying to distance himself. According to this article, in mid July Miller reached out to Project 2025 to request the removal of AFL from the list of advisory board members for the project.
Stephen Miller was previously one of Trump’s advisors, serving as his Senior Advisor for policy and the director of Trump’s speechwriting. He is known for his anti-immigration stance and white nationalism.
Miller continues to work alongside Trump, having helped him prepare for debates this year. He is also working on a plan to deal with ‘’anti-white racism’’, something which AFL, the organization he founded, has been promoting since at least 2022 in ads.
Miller touts America First Legal as the “long-awaited answer” to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). AFL has filed a series of lawsuits, including a successful one which blocked a Small Business Administration aid program on the grounds of discrimination against white men.
AFL has publically reposted a variety of hateful content on social media, including anti-trans rhetoric. They have also written articles like this one referring to transgender surgeries as “child mutilation and sterilization”, “harmful, life-altering treatments on children”, “barbaric medical treatments”, and “crimes against humanity”.
The AFL also have ‘’Fighting back against lawless executive actions and the Radical Left” emblazoned on their website homepage, rather ironically given Project 2025 proposes to make quite the use of dubiously lawful executive actions under the rule of Trump.
In the past, Miller has been heavily involved in Trump policies such as the policy of separating migrant children from their parents and the travel ban on Muslims. He also blocked a study which showed refugees had a beneficial impact on government revenue. Miller made election fraud claims on multiple occasions, including on an ABC television interview back all the way back in 2017, after Trump began his first presidential term. Leaked emails also showed Miller had promoted white nationalist publications and conspiracy theories.
Miller recently was interviewed on Fox News following Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 election, and was quite vocal about his anger regarding the situation and how he felt it was undemocratic, going so far as to claim, “This is as full-frontal an attack on American democracy as we’ve ever seen in the history of America’s major political parties.”
