Stephen Miller’s first public remarks as Donald Trump’s new chief of staff were caught on video by an attendee at a Mar-a-Lago party Friday night.
Miller’s fawning words were captured on a phone camera by Overton Institute co-founder Joey Mannarino, who posted video of the moment on X.
In the video, which has been viewed more than 300,000 times, Trump, wearing a white “USA” baseball cap instead of his usual red MAGA cap, introduces Miller, 41, and hands him the mic.
“He’s a hot commodity,” Trump said, as a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless you.”
“It was the privilege of a lifetime to join President Trump all the way back in 2015 when he came down that golden escalator,” Miller began, wearing a gray suit and standing in front of a fountain at the “winter White House.”
He then launched into an extraordinary tribute to his boss.
“Let me tell you, if it wasn’t for President Trump, the United States of America would not exist right now. This man saved America,” Miller declared.
“He saved our military from collapse. He saved our economy from destruction. He saved our border from annihilation. And he saved our country from threats at home and abroad, which would have been the end of the American dream forever,” he continued, without offering any evidence to support his assertions.
Miller then invoked the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed Trump’s ear.
“This man took a bullet for us,” he said.
Miller next twisted Trump’s felony convictions into patriotic bravery and made perhaps the most far-fetched statement of the brief, 90-second address.
“He faced down life in prison for us,” Miller said.
Just days after Republicans suffered one of their most devastating electoral defeats, Miller insisted that Trump “saved the Republican Party from the ash heap of history and has made it stronger, more popular, and more resilient than ever before.”
Someone shouted “Amen” from the crowd, as though Miller were delivering a sermon.
Miller closed the speech with a pledge of absolute loyalty.
“We need to stand with the man who has stood with us and his country with every fiber of his being,” he said. “It is the honor of my life to be President Trump’s chief of staff and 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.”
Trump announced Friday afternoon that Miller would replace longtime chief of staff Susie Wiles, who is moving to his political operation.
Miller—the architect of much of Trump’s aggressive immigration policy and the man who helped write the speech the president gave at the Ellipse before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol—has been a devoted Trump acolyte since the 2016 campaign.
Trump shared Mannarino’s video of his incoming chief of staff’s speech on Truth Social.
Miller’s wife, Katie, 35, also posted a fawning love letter of her own celebrating her husband’s promotion and crediting Trump with bringing the couple together.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
