Trump swaps Susie Wiles for Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff
The president announced the leadership change on Truth Social days after Republicans lost control of Congress, signaling a continued focus on immigration enforcement.
By Amit Chukwu ·
President Donald Trump replaced his chief of staff Susie Wiles with deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on Monday.
The White House leader posted the news on Truth Social, describing Miller as one of his most trusted advisers. Miller, who previously oversaw the administration's mass deportation campaign, will assume the top political role immediately.
The personnel shift occurred shortly after the Republican Party suffered a major defeat in the midterm elections. Democrats captured the U.S. Senate seat in Texas, a win for Democrat James Talarico, amid backlash against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. The party also lost the popular vote for House seats by 13 percentage points, the widest margin for any party since 1976.
Trump told reporters outside the White House on Friday that he wanted to make a change. He said, "Sometimes in life you have to make moves," and noted that Miller has been with him from the beginning and understands the administration's goals.
Political analysts view the appointment as a signal that the president intends to maintain his current policy trajectory despite the electoral loss. Marc Short, a former White House director of legislative affairs, told CNN that Miller will likely adopt a combative stance toward the new Democratic-controlled Congress. Short said it is difficult to find someone more loyal to the president than Miller.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the selection in a statement, calling Miller the architect of the administration's most inhumane policies. Schumer said, "Donald Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat," and added that the president could not have made a worse choice.
Tommy Vietor, a former Obama administration spokesperson, described the move as tripling down on MAGA insanity on X. He argued that the appointment signals the White House learned zero lessons from the midterm results.
Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the American Immigration Council, said the group views Miller as responsible for the administration's most harmful immigration policies, including the Muslim Ban and family separation. Robbins stated that Trump plans to double down on the extreme immigration agenda despite receiving a decisive rebuke from voters.
CNN reported Friday that Wiles is among those the president is blaming for the scale of the midterm defeat. For much of the past year, Wiles indicated the campaign would focus on affordability, but Trump instead emphasized his construction projects in Washington, D.C., during rallies.
In his post, Trump said Wiles performed an outstanding job and will move to the Trump Political Operation. It is not yet clear what this specific entity entails, though it may relate to his MAGA Inc. political action committee, which held hundreds of millions of dollars to back Republican candidates. Wiles posted on X that her commitment to the mission remains unchanged, though she did not specify her new duties.
The departure follows a series of high-profile exits by women from the administration. Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Tulsi Gabbard left their posts earlier this year, while Karoline Leavitt stepped down as press secretary in August. Leavitt called Miller the perfect choice for the role in a post on X, stating that now is the time to fix what is not working and double down on previous victories.
