Donald Trump has replaced chief of staff Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller, putting the architect of some of his toughest domestic policies in charge of the White House after Republicans lost control of Congress in this week’s midterm elections.
The change will take effect on Monday, with Mr Miller expected to lead the administration as Democrats prepare to take control of both the House of Representatives and Senate. The White House is also facing an expected wave of congressional investigations.
White House officials said Mr Miller’s appointment indicated that Mr Trump intended to take a more aggressive approach to domestic policy and political battles.
Mr Miller, a long-standing Trump loyalist and firebrand policy adviser, served in the administration during the president’s first term from 2017 to 2021. Since Mr Trump returned to the White House in 2025, he has formally been deputy chief of staff under Ms Wiles, but has exercised considerable influence over domestic policy and maintained the president’s ear.
He is best known for driving the administration’s immigration crackdown, including a target of 3,000 arrests a day. Federal immigration agents pursuing that target expanded their list of people being sought to include migrants who had lived in the United States for decades.
Announcing the change on social media, Mr Trump described Mr Miller as “one of my most trusted advisers” and praised Ms Wiles for doing “an outstanding job”.
Ms Wiles submitted her resignation on Thursday night and will move to Mr Trump’s political operation, a White House official said.
The president had become dissatisfied with his political and communications operations before Tuesday’s election, as his public approval ratings fell close to record lows. He told one person briefed on the matter that the White House needed to be “more aggressive” as Democrats prepared to regain congressional power.
Allies of Ms Wiles in the White House began raising concerns on Wednesday about who might replace her, the person said. Another White House official said the decision showed that Mr Trump was rewarding those closest to him rather than changing direction.
