A new Rolling Stone report published this week alleges that White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller exerts outsized control over Pentagon policymaking and that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth "does what Stephen wants to do," according to an anonymous "senior administration" aide cited in the story.
The article, which includes unverified anecdotes and attributed nicknames for Miller such as "shadow sec def," "Prime Minister Miller" and "President Miller," prompted a forceful denial from the White House. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Mail that "Stephen Miller has been one of President Trump’s longest serving and most trusted advisers for nearly a decade," adding that any suggestion otherwise is "false gossip from people who don’t actually know him."
The Rolling Stone piece goes beyond internal whispers, recounting an anonymous accusation that Miller berated a woman at a Washington bar in 2017 about the country listed on her clothing label and called her a "globalist" for not meeting conservative standards. The article also characterizes Miller as a driving force behind immigration and national security moves across the administration.
Reporting and response to specific policy claims in the story have diverged. The Daily Mail, which covered the Rolling Stone piece, criticized it as "filled with opinionated inaccuracies with no credible evidence," disputing a portion of the article that suggested the government could deport or "kidnap and rendition" U.S. citizens or their spouses to foreign detention without due process. The Daily Mail noted that while Miller has supported measures that critics say weaken due process protections for migrants, the U.S. government does not possess legal authority to deport a citizen overseas without judicial process.
The Rolling Stone article also cited the March 2025 case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an undocumented migrant who was removed to El Salvador without a hearing, a move that his wife said occurred without timely notification. The piece noted that on arrival he was taken into Salvadoran military custody amid accusations of guerrilla ties, and that the U.S. government defended the removal as the deportation of a person unlawfully present. The Supreme Court later ordered Garcia’s release after his wife filed suit, and the article reported that he was detained again by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore in August.
The story further characterized federal enforcement as a form of unaccountable secret police operating at the administration’s whim. The Daily Mail and other critics of that language said the description was inaccurate, and pointed out that migrants arrested by masked ICE agents are generally processed through established immigration and judicial procedures.
Pete Hegseth, formerly a Fox News host and a prominent member of President Trump’s inner circle, has risen in recent months to a position of heightened visibility over defense and military matters, according to the reporting. The Rolling Stone account portrays Hegseth as responsive to Miller’s direction; administration officials quoted anonymously in the story dispute that depiction.
The Daily Mail said it reached out to the Department of War for comment. The department and other administration offices did not provide new public statements responding to the Rolling Stone article beyond the White House comment relayed to the Daily Mail.
Analysts and former officials familiar with White House–Pentagon relations say informal influence by senior White House aides on defense policy is not unusual, but they cautioned against accepting anonymous allegations without corroboration. Independent confirmation of the specific claims in the Rolling Stone piece — including the scope of Miller’s involvement in Pentagon decisions and the veracity of the bar confrontation account — was not available at publication.
Miller, a long-time adviser to Trump known for hard-line immigration views, has advocated for policies aimed at restricting both legal and illegal immigration. Critics have accused him of seeking to reduce procedural protections for migrants; administration defenders say his measures are part of a lawful effort to enforce immigration statutes. Hegseth’s portfolio and public statements since joining the administration have focused on military readiness and national security priorities, often aligning with the president’s priorities.
The dispute over the Rolling Stone reporting underscores tensions inside the administration and the broader debate over immigration, enforcement and the scope of presidential and White House staff authority. Journalists and officials remain divided over how much of the account is substantiated, and whether anonymous sourcing in the piece meets journalistic standards for such consequential claims.
No independent oversight body has released findings related to the allegations in the Rolling Stone article. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill did not immediately indicate plans for hearings specific to the report, and the Pentagon did not issue an immediate response addressing the claims about internal decision-making. The White House response frames the allegations as rumor and defends Miller’s standing with the president, while critics and some journalists continue to press for corroboration of the report’s central assertions.