Press Briefing: Stephen Miller Speaks to Reporters Outside the White House - July 13, 2026

Let's go over here first.

Any reaction to this fatal --

Yes.

-- ICE shooting in Maine?

Well, well, slightly about it, yeah.

Any reaction to the fatal shooting in Maine?

Haven't been briefed from that yet. Yes? Go ahead.

Can you confirm that Thursday night's address is about the defense base shooting from national intelligence about foreign interference in between?

I'll let the, uh, comms folks here at the White House provide any previews of the, uh, address. Any question on this side?

What -- what's the administration's message to Iran today?

Well, I think the president's been very clear about his message to Iran. Not much I can add to it, except that anybody who tries to test the, the mettle and might of President Trump and the United States of America will be very foolish for doing so. Uh, if you have any questions.

The rein- -- the reinstatement [Inaudible] without the knowledge of the White House first legal reaction.

Well, I'm not too familiar with the details of that. But I would just say that obviously the only entity in the United States that can conduct foreign policy is the executive branch of the federal government. Yes, you had a question?

Yeah, just the, the, your, your memories, your thoughts on Lindsey Graham.

Yes, thank you for asking. And I'll end with that question. I apologize. That's one I'd like to end on because Lindsey was a, a close friend of mine. So I've known Lindsey for many years. Um, I knew him before even the first Trump campaign. I didn't know him well. Didn't know him well. And, um, I, I spent a lot of time with him the first time.

In fact, I remember a meeting with him, um, in, uh, the-then chief's office in the first few days of the Trump administration, talking about the legislative agenda. And I spent a lot of time with him the first term. But in the, um, in the campaign of 2024 and then in the days in the transition afterwards is when I would say that I really had the chance to really get to know Lindsey as a person, as an individual.

And, um, we would joke with each other all the time and say, "Isn't it amazing how far our own relationship has come?" Uh, I would joke with Lindsey. I said, "Lindsey used to, uh, say some pretty careful things about me in the press." And I said, "Lindsey, I hope you appreciate that I showed incredible restraint.

I never, um, I never attacked you back." He said, "Yeah, I do remember that. I did appreciate that, but you certainly could have if you wanted to." Um, but, uh, by the time I saw no, no reason to because, uh, the, uh, uh, the job typically of a, the staffer is to say behind the scenes and not get out up front.

But, uh, but I said, you know, think about it now. UBR, and we're working on every policy every day together. We're having phone calls about deficit policy, about welfare reform, about, uh, border security, everything else. And, um, you know, so, and I, I said this to him, and I'm so glad I got the chance.

I said it. "So amazing that we've had the chance to get to become close friends, but I want you to know how much your friendship means to me." I remember this conversation very distinctly. And you know, again, you don't, you don't think that your friends are going to suddenly disappear. And I'm very grateful that I had the chance to get to say that to him before he ended up passing on. But Lindsey was just so fundamentally good to us, to all of us. Every time we never needed every and anything at all, we would call Lindsey.

Without question, without hesitation, he would help out. I think it's important for people to see the fullness of the picture of, of Lindsey Graham or why people liked him as much as they did because he was so generous in heart and in spirit. I still honestly almost haven't almost haven't heard the process that he's gone because it was so complete and sudden.

You're just there talking to him one day, and then you get the news report, and you're just struck with, with grief and shock the next. Look at a practical level, we have to also say Lindsey was the most effective, consistent advocate for the president's agenda in Senate. And that is a historical legacy that will always belong to him.

His role in passing the first reconciliation bill, his role in driving so many of the president's priorities, his ability, as few others can, to be able to muscle things through the Senate. That's a real skill, and it speaks to his lifetime of relationships in the body. The -- Lindsey was of a mold that I don't think we're gonna see again for a very long time.

Somebody who really understood how the power of rhetoric, how the power of communication as a senator can actually change outcomes. In other words, there's plenty of senators who will go on the Senate floor, give a speech, clip the video, put it on YouTube, get views on it. And you're basically, you're, you're, you're auditioning for an external audience.

Lindsey was speaking as a senator to other senators. So much of the Senate, unfortunately, has become a body of fake debate, fake deliberation. In other words, hearing, they're talking to cameras and again, to a micro audience, they're trying to build their home.

Or if they're speaking, uh, even behind closed doors, right? They are just trying to cement their position for the record and then, you know, someone go out and link to political who said what to who. Lindsay really believed he could change people's minds through the force and persuasion of his rhetoric.

And he proved time and time again that he could do that. And that is a very rare and special gift. You know, the term career politician is typically a pejorative in America. Uh, and understandable reasons why [Laughs] I'd probably use it as a pejorative, uh, as much as just about anybody. But, there's such a thing as a noble career politician.

And that's what Lindsay was. Lindsay was a person who's chosen vocation, who's chosen path in life was to be a politician in the best and highest and noblest sense of the term. The most virtuous sense of the term, to serve others to serve the country. And you know, you look at the arc of Lindsay's career, the fact that he became one of the most important allies of President Trump and MAGA and the America First movement in what now turned out to be the last act of his career is such a fitting tribute to the man.

The, uh, all of us in the course of our professional lives that times and circumstances and events change will be confronted with news, information or circumstances that we can either choose to ignore or we can choose to absorb into our actions and our worldviews. Lindsay heard what the voters said, what the voters wanted, the voters believed, and more importantly than that, he came to believe it too.

In other words, he became in his bones a deep, fervent believer in the President Trump vision and the view of the world and fought very hard to try again to pass that agenda through Congress. And, you know, on the, on an issue which Lindsay became well known for, which is immigration. The, uh, the fact is that Lindsay, by the time we came into office in 2025, was one of the most prominent supporters of ICE, DHS, Immigration Enforcement, and the president's immigration agenda in the whole country.

And he had many conversations over the years about this issue. And that too is an important part of his legacy is getting that immigration bill for President Trump across the finish line. But just to strip off all the policy groups that get, it's just the kindness of the man, the warmth of the man. Meetings with Lindsay at the White House were the best meetings that you would ever be in. The, he would just turn and he'd smile at you and just say, "I am having the best time." And he would also turn and say, "God, I love President Trump." And, and he said that in a way, it's important to understand it's not just that he loved the policies.

It, it's that he loved the man, he loved him as a friend. He loved spending time with him. He loved the joy that President Trump brought to him. And I think in this, again, this what turned out to be the last act of Lindsey Graham's life. It's important to understand the degree of personal and professional satisfaction of [Inaudible] chapter to career [Inaudible]. I could tell spending time with him that he was so deeply and totally and completely professionally fulfilled.

And there's a beauty in that, and I think there's a majesty in that, that he was able to find that total professional satisfaction and fulfillment. And again, what ended up becoming the last, uh, the last chapter of his life. So Lindsey, I miss you. God speed and see you on the other side, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miller --