President Donald Trump announced Friday that Stephen Miller will become White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles as the administration braces for a Democratic-controlled Congress.
Miller, a longtime Trump adviser and architect of the president’s hard-line immigration agenda, is expected to begin the role on Monday. Trump called him one of his most trusted aides and said the move was necessary after a bruising midterm week.
Wiles, the first woman to serve as Trump’s White House chief of staff, is expected to shift into the president’s political operation. Trump publicly praised her tenure even as he overhauled the West Wing leadership stack.
The appointment signals a harder edge toward negotiations with Democrats who flipped the House and are projected to hold a Senate majority when the new Congress convenes in January.
Allies said Miller’s elevation consolidates policy and messaging under an adviser who has shaped border enforcement, deportation priorities, and domestic security strategy since Trump’s first term.
Critics argued the choice will deepen confrontation with Capitol Hill and complicate any lame-duck bargaining before Democrats take full control of committee gavels.
Markets and foreign capitals watched the announcement closely, reading it as a sign Trump intends to double down rather than pivot after the midterm repudiation.
Miller most recently served as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, roles that kept him at the center of the administration’s most contested initiatives.
