'Appeal to MAGA': Industry Trump denigrates makes inroads with top aide’s influencer wife

Katie Miller, the podcaster and wife of White House Senior Advisor Stephen Miller, has taken a sudden interest in solar energy. Many observers are wondering why, with the specter of paid shilling looming.

A confidential strategy memo obtained by Politico raises that possibility. There is a campaign underway by members of the renewable energy lobby group to “MAGA-fy solar power,” as the publication terms the bolstering trend.

The memo shows the American Clean Power Association launched the “American Energy First” campaign to engage former President Donald Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway and conservative influencers like Miller “to amplify the benefits of solar energy” and “note the harm that could result from reckless trade policy.”

The memo cites an American Energy First poll showing solar power is popular with Trump’s base.

“As part of the campaign, ACP is working with a series of conservative influencers to secure opinion media placements authored by conservative columnists, former Republican lawmakers,” the memo states.

Miller denies being paid for her posts. “I do not have a paid partnership” with the American Clean Power Association, she said in a statement to Politico.

It’s worth noting that Miller did work full-time for former boss Elon Musk during the early months of Trump’s second stint, and he has extensive investments in solar power and battery storage. She has been a staunch defender of Musk.

While there is speculation about Miller’s motives, many are heartened by her posts.

Renewable energy interest has waned in Trump 2.0, as Republicans ended President Joe Biden-era tax credits for renewables.

President Trump, who has called renewables "unreliable," also signed an executive order calling on the Interior Department to “end preferential treatment” for wind and solar, and the Energy Department dissolved its renewable division, nixing a number of projects in the pipeline.

That means things like the social media become more important.

“We have to try new creative things rather than let this administration drive the narrative with their baseless attacks on solar and wind,” one Senate staffer working on renewable energy issues told Puck.

That has manifested itself on several fronts, including polling favoring renewables among conservatives, and Newt Gingrich publishing an opinion piece in The Daily Caller calling solar a key piece of an “energy abundance” strategy.

The pro-renewables blitz may be working. Puck reports that there is a perceived “softening” in the Trump administration’s rhetoric on solar, while the Interior Department has slightly loosened its permitting process for solar projects.

Whatever the reason for the newfound embrace of solar, the interest in renewable power arrives at a time when oil is choked by the Iran war and domestic needs, particularly for artificial intelligence data centers, are both huge factors.

One renewable that won’t likely benefit, Puck wryly notes: “Trump’s hatred for wind turbines ruining his golf course views runs so deep.”