Two days after Valentine’s Day, love was still in the air when President Trump motorcaded five blocks to attend the wedding of two senior aides, policy adviser Stephen Miller and vice presidential spokeswoman Katie Waldman.
Looking at the newlyweds who got hitched at the Trump International Hotel, the president gave a full-throated endorsement — and said he wants more like it.
“I think it’s great to fall in love in the White House,” he said, pointedly shrugging off corporate rules against employee dating.
“Look, they fell in love in the White House, and I think it’s great. Fall in love in the White House. It’s a great thing,” he said to the high-powered crowd at the Sunday night wedding, according to a guest.
The most perfect day, the most perfect man surrounded with more love than we both could have ever dreamed.
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Miller
2.16.20 pic.twitter.com/hMu6joPbN3
— Katie Rose Miller (@katiewaldman) February 17, 2020
The Miller wedding was the latest in a handful of marriages in the Trump administration. But while the president’s critics, notably the New York Times, have sneered that Trump aides have to marry each other because the “dating pool is small” in liberal Washington, their marriage actually follows a long pattern in the White House.
“Where else are you going to meet somebody when we work so many hours,” said a Trump aide. The aide cited to a second driver: “We have shared values.”
Another top Trump aide close to the couple told us, “The president creates such an atmosphere of joy in the White House that we love working there, and we get deep and meaningful bonds, whether it be friendship or something more. We genuinely have a great time.”
Former Trump communications aide Mercedes Schlapp met her husband, American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, in the George W. Bush White House and attributed the insider environment to the marriages that result.
Spectacular and very special wedding tonight with new bride and groom Stephen and Katie Miller! So much fun and still going with @realDonaldTrump having fun and the band is going strong! pic.twitter.com/1LreZhe2pd
— Reince Priebus (@Reince) February 17, 2020
“What happens is that you are kind of in the trenches, so you are making these lifetime friendships because you have experienced so much together,” said Schlapp, who has been married for 18 years.
“In some cases, it is making friendships, in others, it’s finding your future spouse,” she said. “You are in the battlefields with your colleagues, and from it comes long-lasting friendships,” she added, pointing to their relationships with several former Bush aides, notably Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and his wife Ashley, who also met in the Bush White House.
Another photo of Trump speaking at Stephen Miller and Katie Waldman wedding via Instagram https://t.co/zI6GqDd2OJ pic.twitter.com/YP5hrCMRFo
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) February 17, 2020
And that’s the story of Stephen and Katie Miller. They were phone associates during the early days when he was developing immigration policy and she was a key Homeland Security spokeswoman.
They were introduced by friends in early 2018, and when she shifted over to the White House to work for Vice President Mike Pence, the relationship grew because they shared similar values, said a friend.
At the ceremony, guests including Schlapp, Pence and his wife Karen, Sen. Steve Daines and his wife, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, top Trump aide Jared Kushner, former Republican Party chief Reince Priebus, and national security adviser Robert O’Brien didn’t know what to expect.
Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, who flew in from Israel for the ceremony, helped to break the ice when he said, “Welcome to Stephen Miller’s wedding. Katie and I are happy to be here.”
Schlapp said Miller in his vows showed a side few have seen from the fierce defender of the president. “We got to see Stephen in a whole different light, opening up his heart and sharing his admiration and love of Katie. There were so many of us who were crying.”
Schlapp said she ribbed her husband, who is organizing this month’s Conservative Political Action Conference, and asked, “When are you going to write me some beautiful vows like that?”
