In his own words: Stephen Miller's arguments for White House actions in US cities and abroad

WASHINGTON — More than a year before an American military operation deposed Nicolás Maduro, a senior aide to President Donald Trump argued that the Venezuelan leader had been dispatching gang members into the United States.

"If you're a dictator of a poor country with a high crime rate, wouldn't you send your criminals to our open border?'' Stephen Miller told reporters in the closing stretch of Trump's 2024 comeback campaign.

Miller now serves as the White House chief of staff for policy, where he plays a prominent role in promoting Trump's policy agenda. His bombastic style and zero-sum worldview have made him a lightning rod within the administration. Critics argue that Miller's rhetoric about foreign nations and immigrants echoes racist and imperialist ideas that have undergirded military actions by the U.S. and other nations for centuries.

A joint statement from the governments of Spain and five Latin American countries following the Venezuela operation called for countries in the region to engage in ''mutual respect, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and nonintervention,'' while Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called the administration's Venezuela policy ''old-fashioned imperialism.''

''Advocating for policies that put American citizens first isn't racist. Anyone who says so is either intentionally lying or just plain stupid,'' said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson.

Here's a look at how Miller laid the rhetorical groundwork for this month's attack on Venezuela and what his comments say about the administration's broader worldview.

Miller argues that Western nations' aid to developing world was ‘reverse colonization'

Miller argues that Venezuelan oil was stolen from US oil industry

Two weeks before Maduro's arrest, Miller in December echoed arguments by Trump that the Venezuelan oil industry was stolen from American oil companies:

''American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela. Its tyrannical expropriation was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property. These pillaged assets were then used to fund terrorism and flood our streets with killers, mercenaries and drugs,'' Miller wrote on social media.

Miller says Venezuelan government is in service to US

Miller in January claimed to reporters that U.S. military power had ensured compliance from the Caracas government.

He added: ''Our conversations are that we are very much getting full, complete and total cooperation from the government of Venezuela, and as a result of that cooperation, the people of Venezuela are going to become richer than they ever have before. And of course, the United States is going to benefit from this massively in terms of economic, security and military cooperation, counter-narcotics, counterterrorism and every other dimension of our security."

Miller calls for a world order based on strength, says US military occupation of Greenland would not be opposed

During a wide-ranging January interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Miller repeatedly argued for the primacy of American power and criticized the international order the U.S. once led.

''You can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else. But we live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world," said Miller.

Miller also dismissed concerns that Trump's vows to take Greenland from Denmark, a fellow member of the NATO military alliance, may trigger a military conflict with Europe.

Miller argues that Western nations engaged in ‘groveling' to former colonies

In the same interview, Miller said it would be ''absurd and preposterous'' and ''not even a serious question'' to propose the administration support Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado's bid to lead the country because the military would not back her.

Tapper then asked whether the South American country should hold elections.

Miller replied: ''The United States is using its military to secure our interests unapologetically in our hemisphere. We're a superpower, and under President Trump, we are going to conduct ourselves as a superpower. It is absurd that we would allow a nation in our own backyard to become the supplier of resources to our adversaries, but not to us, to hoard weapons from our adversaries, to be able to be positioned as an asset against the United States, rather than on behalf of the United States.''

The anchor pressed Miller on whether sovereign countries had the right to conduct their own affairs.

He also defended the administration's operation and echoed his past claims that Maduro had sent criminals into the U.S.: ''We're not going to let tinpot communist dictators send rapists into our country, send drugs into our country, send weapons into our country."

Miller criticizes anti-ICE protests following immigration crackdown in Minneapolis

Miller has returned to promoting the administration's stance on domestic issues like immigration and partisan politics.

On Tuesday, following nationwide protests after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minnesota, Miller wrote on social media: ''Americans voting overwhelmingly for mass deportation. Congress passed laws requiring it and then passed new legislation to fully fund it. The response of the Democrat Party and its activists has been to support and orchestrate violent resistance against federal law enforcement.''