民主党人对特朗普提拔斯蒂芬·米勒后愿与其合作深表怀疑Democrats deeply skeptical Trump wants to work with them after his elevation of Stephen Miller

WASHINGTON — After the Republican drubbing in the midterm elections, President Donald Trump said he’s open to cutting a deal with Democrats on immigration and showing he can work cooperatively with the opposition. He’d even throttle back on the insults, if need be, he said. But what Trump actually did was far more illustrative of what’s to come, as Democrats see it. Trump ousted Susie Wiles and installed as his new White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, the face of hard-line immigration enforcement and an operative who has swung a rhetorical cleaver at the party that will soon control Congress.

Miller won’t get a honeymoon from ascendant Democratic lawmakers whose party he likened last year to a “domestic extremist organization.”He’d need to shed the persona of an uncompromising Trump loyalist, and the early signs suggest he won’t, Democratic lawmakers told NBC News. When Trump introduced Miller at an event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last week, the newly minted chief told guests, “I swear to you and I pledge to you, Mr. President, my absolute loyalty, my unwavering commitment and my total devotion to your success and the success of this country.”

Democrats have recoiled at Miller’s elevation, signaling they expect nothing from him but blanket opposition to the bills they pass and the oversight investigations they intend to launch. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who is expected to become House speaker when the new Congress convenes in January, called Miller a “stone-cold racist” in remarks to reporters Monday. Jeffries, now the House minority leader, said he has “zero interest” in working with Miller.

Can Miller be a viable partner to Democrats? a reporter asked. “No,” Jeffries said. “Stephen Miller is a stone-cold racist. His track record speaks for itself. And I’ve got zero interest in working with that kind of individual.”Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told NBC News on Tuesday that as he was visiting more than two dozen states during the midterm campaign season, the feedback he got from voters was that Miller “might be the most unpopular person in Trump world.”

“Miller might not be able to engage in any kind of course correction,” Raskin said. “It cuts against his ideology and character. While Trump is like Marie Antoinette, fiddling with his golden ballroom, Miller seems utterly unbowed and unrepentant.”

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said in an interview that “Miller is going to need to come make the case to Democrats in Congress that he’s actually willing to change direction. That’s going to be a tough case to make, since he’s virtually never spoken to any of us.”

The White House defended Miller in a statement Tuesday night. “Unlike the hardcore, partisan Democrats who refused to work with the president and blocked many of his popular policies, Stephen Miller has a track record of spearheading bipartisan efforts: public safety reform, making our cities such as Washington, D.C. and Memphis safe again, drug pricing transparency, and unleashing a nuclear energy renaissance,” spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. “The Democrats are attacking Stephen because they know he is incredibly effective in Washington.”

Despite Miller’s hard-line reputation, a person close to the White House told NBC News that he believes he can work with the incoming Democratic majority. “This is not a door shut,” this person said. “This is an open conversation to get things done for the American people.”

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a member of the House Oversight Committee, laughed when he was asked whether he expects any cooperation from Miller as Congress’ investigative machinery cranks up. “He’s going to resist with every fiber of his being,” Khanna said.

“It’s like Trump appointed the last-man-standing warrior.”A chief of staff isn’t supposed to make policy so much as implement what the president wants done, while providing candid advice at all times. With Trump, priorities can vary day by day, but since the election, he has indicated he might be willing to consult with Democrats.

In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Trump was asked what he’d like to work on with the Democratic majority. “I’d love to do something on immigration,” he said.

Trump seemed set on promoting Miller when he told Wiles in the Oval Office last week that he wanted to make a change, according to a person familiar with her thinking. Trump was unhappy and frustrated with the results of the midterm elections, and he blamed Wiles, among others, the person said. Trump “seemed really comfortable with his decision” to promote Miller and asked Wiles what she thought of the move, the person said. Wiles commended the choice, the person said, adding that Wiles views Miller as “smart and loyal” and someone who “will fulfill exactly what the president wants.”

Among Republicans, views of Miller are mixed. Steve Bannon, a senior White House adviser in Trump’s first term and a popular figure in the MAGA movement, praised Miller’s work. “Stephen has been with the president daily for 11 years,” Bannon told NBC News. “There is no learning curve. They speak in shorthand to each other.”Yet some more establishment Republicans are leery of further empowering the architect of Trump’s unpopular immigration and deportation policies.

Exit polls last week showed that 58% of voters believed Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts went too far. Even Trump acknowledged as much in his interview with “60 Minutes.”“I think it might be too tough, yeah. And a lot of people would say that it’s great. But a lot of people think it’s too tough,” Trump said when he was asked whether his deportation policies went “too far.”

At a time when Republicans lost the reddest of states, Miller’s elevation seems to be a reaffirmation of the very policies that contributed to the party’s collapse last week, some Republicans suggested. Republicans who’ve been harshest tend to be those who’ve sparred with Trump and are leaving Congress. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who decided not to run for re-election and will leave the Senate in January, said Miller’s appointment demonstrates that the White House has not “fully vetted the reasons why we lost the election last week, and they probably need to.”

Miller, Tillis noted, was deputy chief of staff and senior policy adviser before his elevation last week. “Some of the policies he advised the president as a priority were rejected by the voters last week. ... He is not a part of the future. He’s part of the past that got rejected last week,” he said. A more muted response came from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.

Va., who won re-election Tuesday and will be in office for the rest of Trump’s term. “I think that’s such a critical position,” Capito said of the chief of staff job. “Many of us have great relationships with Susie Wiles. I hope we can have that same kind of relationship with Stephen Miller. I don’t happen to have that relationship with him, even though we share alma maters [Duke University]. I just don’t. We haven’t developed that. So over time, I think that will develop.”

An immediate test of Miller’s relationship with the new Democratic majority will come quickly. Democrats are planning intensive investigations into the Trump family’s crypto business dealings, Trump’s pet renovation projects, immigration enforcement and other issues. Miller may be someone the Democrats call to testify. Girding for a Democratic takeover of Congress, the White House has been quietly preparing for aggressive, Democratic-led investigations.

The White House counsel’s office, for example, has been hiring attorneys who are experienced in dealing with congressional probes, a White House aide said. “Given his history,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in an interview, “Miller’s appointment indicates a highly partisan, no-holds-barred resistance to cooperation and disclosure.”