Stephen Miller replaces Susie Wiles as Trump chief of staff
President Donald Trump has named Stephen Miller White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles after the Republican Party's election defeat, in a move seen as signaling escalation with Congress rather than conciliation.
US President Donald Trump has named his close adviser Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles, who left the post after the Republican Party's heavy defeat in the midterm elections, according to France 24.
According to an unnamed White House official, Wiles submitted her resignation Thursday evening. Trump commented on his decision, saying: "I wanted to make a change. Sometimes in life you have to make some changes," adding of Miller: "Stephen Miller has been with me from the beginning," remarks reported by BBC. Miller himself wrote on X: "The mission is now clearer than ever: we will fight with full determination to support the president and defend this great Republican Party. What an indescribable honor that President Trump chose me for this job."
Who is Stephen Miller?
Before this appointment, Miller served as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. He is known as the driving force behind the Trump administration's strict immigration enforcement policies, including increased funding for enforcement across the United States. His name made headlines when he described Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by federal immigration agents during a mass deportation operation in Minneapolis, as a "domestic terrorist" and a "butcher," before walking back those descriptions and saying the immigration agents may not have followed proper protocol, per BBC. The White House chief of staff post is one of the most important in Washington: whoever holds it becomes the president's gatekeeper, sets the White House agenda, and leads the negotiating team with Congress.
Why is this being read as escalation, not conciliation?
US Vice President JD Vance, the Republican Party's frontrunner for the 2028 presidential race, said Wednesday he was open to changing how immigration laws are enforced by focusing more on companies that employ illegal labor, but that possibility became less likely once Miller took over as chief of staff. This comes after polls showed 58% of voters believe the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations have "gone too far," and that Latino voters cast punitive votes against Republican candidates.
Divided reactions across party lines
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, in a post on X relayed by France 24, called Miller "the architect of the most brutal and inhumane policies in this administration." In the House, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote that "Stephen Miller is a dangerous xenophobe and a reckless extremist whose hands are stained with American blood; his presence in government should therefore be excised like a malignant tumor." Even within the Republican Party, Senator Tom Tillis called him "incompetent" and "the architect of many of the dumbest proposals to come out of the White House," while Senator Mike Lee praised him as a "true conservative warrior" who has defended law and order for years. This sharp divide echoes, in reverse, what Susie Wiles faced: known as a calm, professional figure, she had succeeded in sparing the White House the turmoil that marked Trump's first term, before the president grew frustrated with her in recent months amid his declining popularity, against a backdrop of reports that he was upset over people in her circle profiting from consulting jobs tied to their proximity to the presidency.
Miller must now negotiate with a Senate now controlled by Democrats, which counts among its rising stars James Talarico, whom Miller had publicly criticized. Deutsche Welle likewise confirmed that Miller is now running White House affairs after his party's election defeat, an appointment read in Washington as a sign that Trump has chosen political confrontation with the new Congress over conciliation.