Key takeaways: President Donald Trump has named Stephen Miller, the driving force behind his hardline immigration policies, as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles. Miller takes over on Monday, November 9, days after Democrats seized control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections. Wiles, the first woman to hold the job, moves to Trump’s political operation.
President Donald Trump has replaced his White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, with Stephen Miller, one of his closest and most combative advisers, in the first major personnel change since Republicans lost control of Congress in this week’s midterm elections.
Trump announced the move on Friday, November 6, in a post on his Truth Social platform. Miller, who currently serves as deputy chief of staff and as an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security, will take over on Monday, November 9. Wiles will move to the Trump political operation.
“I am pleased to announce that Mr. Stephen Miller, the current Deputy Chief of Staff of the Trump Administration, and one of my most trusted advisors, will become the Chief of Staff starting Monday, November 9, 2026,” Trump wrote. He added that Wiles “has done an outstanding job” and thanked her for her service.
The appointment comes three days after voters handed Democrats control of the House and the Senate. The choice of Miller, the driving force behind the administration’s toughest immigration policies, signals that the president does not intend to soften his approach in response.
What happened on Friday
The announcement followed a turbulent week inside the White House. According to CNN, citing people familiar with the matter, Wiles submitted her resignation on Thursday evening, after it became clear that Trump blamed her and his political team for the scale of the Republican losses.
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House for an event in Florida on Friday, Trump praised his new chief of staff. “Stephen’s been with me from beginning. He gets it, very good politically, and he’s a very good man,” he said. “Stephen’s been great, and sometimes in life, you gotta make moves.”
Trump said publicly on Friday that Wiles’s departure was “not because of the election.” “It’s just time. Sometimes you change,” he said.
Wiles, who managed Trump’s 2024 election campaign before becoming the first woman ever to serve as White House chief of staff, said on X that serving the president was “the honor of a lifetime”. Miller wrote on X: “It has been the privilege of my lifetime to have served on his team from Day One, and I am honored beyond words to serve as his White House Chief of Staff.”
Trump also signalled that more changes could follow. Asked by CBS News on Friday whether he intended to fire people, he replied: “I do.”
Who is Stephen Miller
Miller, 41, joined Trump’s orbit during the 2016 campaign, writing speeches and shaping policy, and stayed on through the first term. He returned in the second term as deputy chief of staff for policy, with a portfolio that has widened well beyond immigration into wide areas of domestic policy.
He is best known as an immigration hawk. Miller has been the chief architect of the mass deportation campaign that has been a centrepiece of Trump’s second term, and of the administration’s push to end birthright citizenship. During Trump’s first administration, he helped craft a travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries. Lower courts struck it down as unlawful, but the Supreme Court later upheld a revised version.
His influence inside the administration has been unusually direct. CNN has previously reported that Miller ran daily 10 a.m. conference calls with Department of Homeland Security officials, demanding updates and pressing senior officials who delivered results he considered unsatisfactory. Last year, he directed immigration enforcement officials to meet daily quotas of 3,000 arrests, an unprecedented number the agency struggled to reach. The White House and the Department of Homeland Security have repeatedly denied that arrest quotas exist.
Miller has also been a driving force in Trump’s more muscular approach to foreign affairs. He backed the American operation that removed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro from power, saying afterwards that “the United States is using its military to secure our interests unapologetically in our hemisphere.”
His appointment was welcomed by some in the administration. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X that Miller “never backs down” and vowed his support. A Department of Homeland Security official told CNN: “Trump got his MAGA mojo back.”
Why Wiles left, and what her departure means
Wiles outlasted every chief of staff from Trump’s first term: four men held the job across those four years, none for as long as she did. Rather than trying to remake how Trump governed, she worked through the people around him to steer decisions. Trump often referred to her as his “ice maiden”, a nod to her disciplined style, and as recently as October 16 he insisted she would stay for the foreseeable future. “Susie is here and she’s gonna be here for a long time,” he said that day.
People familiar with her thinking told CNN that Wiles decided to resign believing the president should be able to choose someone to lead his White House who had his full confidence. She had always said she would remain until the end of Trump’s second term, but the same account noted she had a difficult year personally, having recently completed treatment for breast cancer.
Her exit has unsettled some inside the White House. One official told CNN he did not know what the operation would look like without her, and she is the latest senior woman to leave the administration and be replaced by a man; Trump has previously parted ways with women serving as attorney general, labour secretary and homeland security secretary.
A defiant signal after defeat
The political meaning of the appointment is hard to miss. The election was fought largely on the president’s record: his approval rating is at record lows, with voters expressing discontent over immigration policy, the economy and the war in Iran, all issues Miller had a hand in shaping.
Rather than appointing a conciliator, Trump has elevated the adviser most associated with the policies voters rejected. Officials in the administration told CNN they read the move as the White House pressing ahead with its immigration crackdown even as public backing for its tactics fades. The crackdown has drawn intense backlash, including widespread demonstrations after federal law enforcement officers shot and killed two people in Minneapolis earlier this year during immigration enforcement operations. After the second shooting, Miller called the man who was killed, Alex Pretti, a “domestic terrorist”, a claim that quickly unravelled.
Democrats have already signalled a fight. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on social media: “Donald Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat.” He called Miller the architect of the administration’s most inhumane policies and said Democratic majorities would fight him “every step of the way.”
Democrats in Congress have promised tough scrutiny of the administration, including hearings and subpoenas for senior officials. Representative Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said on Friday that Miller would be a top target. “Stephen Miller should lawyer up,” he said.
What happens next
Miller formally takes over on Monday, November 9. His first task will be steadying a White House that has been shaken by the election result and by the departure of the aide who kept its daily operations running.
The new chief of staff will also have to manage a relationship with a Democratic Congress that is openly hostile to him. Miller’s wife, Katie, who hosts a podcast featuring administration officials, appeared to confirm reporting that she had lobbied for her husband to get the job, writing on X: “If your wife doesn’t do this, find a new one.”
For now, the message from the White House is one of defiance. Miller himself put it plainly in his first statement as the incoming chief of staff: “The mission now is more clear than ever: Fight with all of our soul to support our President and defend this magnificent Republic.”
Frequently asked questions
Who is the new White House chief of staff?
Stephen Miller, 41, a longtime Trump adviser and the driving force behind the administration’s hardline immigration policies. He has served as deputy chief of staff for policy and as an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security, and he takes over as chief of staff on Monday, November 9, 2026.
Why did Susie Wiles leave the role?
Wiles submitted her resignation on Thursday, November 5, after Trump blamed his political team for the Republicans’ heavy midterm losses. Trump said publicly her departure was “not because of the election”, adding “it’s just time”. She moves to the Trump political operation.
What does Miller’s appointment mean for immigration policy?
It signals that Trump intends to press on with the mass deportation campaign and the wider immigration crackdown, rather than soften it after the midterm defeat. Miller has run the policy from inside the White House.
Will there be more White House staff changes?
Trump has said yes. Asked by CBS News whether he intended to fire people, he replied “I do”, and said he would be making “maybe a few changes” to his Cabinet, without naming anyone.
Sources
- NPR, “Stephen Miller will replace Susie Wiles as Trump’s chief of staff,” November 6, 2026: https://www.kenw.org/npr-news/2026-11-06/stephen-miller-will-replace-susie-wiles-as-trumps-chief-of-staff
- CNN, “Stephen Miller replacing Susie Wiles as chief of staff as Trump grows furious with midterm results, sources say,” November 6, 2026: https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/06/politics/stephen-miller-trump-susie-wiles
- USA Today, “In elevating Stephen Miller, Trump taps anti-immigration champion,” November 6, 2026: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/11/06/stephen-miller-trump-immigration-chief-staff-midterm-election/92647974007/
- USA Today, “Trump taps Stephen Miller to replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff,” November 6, 2026: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/11/06/midterm-election-results-updates–live/92632775007/
- The Hindu, “Trump replaces Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller as chief of staff after GOP’s midterm defeat,” November 7, 2026: https://www.thehindu.com/news/morning-digest-on-november-7-2026/article71677130.ece
