JASON RETURNS
JASON MILLER REEMERGES AS A FOREIGN AGENT
On Thursday, long-time Trump senior advisor Jason Miller inked a $150,000-per-month lobbying contract to represent the Republic of India. The agreement includes a $450,000 advance payment. Miller’s lobbying firm, SHW Partners, LLC, is registered to the address of a UPS Store located three minutes away from the Trump advisor’s Northern Virginia home. Miller most recently served as a senior advisor to the 2024 Trump presidential campaign.
Miller is tasked with providing India “strategic counsel, tactical planning, and government relations assistance on policy matters before the U.S. Government, the U.S. Congress, state governments, academic institutions, think tanks, and other relevant stakeholders,” according to the agreement’s terms.
Miller has been involved in lobbying since 2017, having worked for Teneo Strategy as a managing director from 2017 to 2019. After leaving Teneo, Miller founded SHW Partners to lobby but represented only two clients on Paycheck Protection Act issues during the COVID pandemic, according to Legislative Disclosure Act filings. A search of the Department of Justice’s FARA registration database reveals that Miller did not register as a foreign agent during his tenure at Teneo Strategy.
Miller is a polarizing and controversial figure compared to other foreign agents. After working for the 2016 Trump campaign, Miller was named White House Communications Director but declined the post after A.J. Delgado, a Trump campaign staffer and transition team member, revealed that Miller had fathered a child with her during a brief affair during the 2016 election.
In a later lawsuit, Delgado alleged that Miller had failed to pay child support. Gizmodo-owned outlet Splinter then reported that sealed court documents asserted that Miller placed ground up abortion-inducing pills into an alleged stripper’s drink to induce an abortion. Miller subsequently sued Gizmodo for defamation but lost the case. In a deposition in the defamation case, Miller admitted to visiting prostitutes, “Asian-themed” massage parlors, and strip clubs. Multiple press accounts later reported that Miller hid payments from the court in the child support case. These included consulting payments from lobbying firm Teneo after he resigned from the company.
Delgado also filed a civil suit against Miller and the Trump campaign, alleging that Miller sexually assaulted her while she was working for the Trump campaign. In January, a New York state judge denied Miller and the Trump campaign’s motion to dismiss the case.
Despite these revelations, Trump rehired Miller during the early stages of his 2024 presidential bid. Miller did not join the incoming administration for Trump’s second term.
India’s need for representation to engage the Trump administration grew after Trump imposed stiff tariffs on goods entering the United States. Initial tariffs against India were set at 26%, but after Trump rolled back tariffs for most of the world, India still faces a 10% tariff on goods entering the U.S. An Indian government report stated that the United States is the largest destination for Indian goods, with nearly 18% of Indian exports going to the U.S.
The hiring of Miller as an agent follows closely on the heels of a recent visit to New Delhi by Vice President J.D. Vance. A Financial Times story on the Vance meeting reported that India was “working at a frenetic pace to make the most of Donald Trump’s tariffs.” The hiring of an otherwise-contriversial Trump insider like Miller may be an indication of how much India India belives that a personal connection to Trump is critical to its tariff strategy.