On the Hill, however, Democrats were acutely aware of Miller’s presence and thought of it as an ominous sign. They just didn’t think that Miller had rank over the other Trump White House official with whom they were speaking. As one Democratic aide told The Daily Beast, both Schumer and Pelosi had been in touch with chief of staff John Kelly several times since the DACA-deal dinner. “Schumer also spoke to the president about it once urging him to move forward with the negotiations,” the aide said.

That Miller operated largely out of view was by design. Multiple sources in the Trump White House tell The Daily Beast that he is acutely aware of how other senior Trump aides—including former chief strategist Steve Bannon, another immigration hardliner—have been banished to the doghouse by President Trump for assuming too large a public profile.