Trump names Stephen Miller White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles

President Donald Trump said on Friday that Stephen Miller will replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, reshaping his senior team days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections.

Trump announced the change in a social media post. He called Miller “one of my most trusted advisors” and said Wiles “has done an outstanding job”. She will move to the Trump Political Operation, the president’s political organisation. Miller, who is deputy chief of staff, takes over on Monday, November 9.

Wiles confirmed her exit in a post on X. “Today is my last day as White House Chief of Staff,” she wrote, calling service to Trump “the honor of a lifetime” and adding that her commitment “to the President and the mission” would not change. She is reported to have submitted her resignation on Thursday night. Neither the White House nor Trump gave a reason for the change.

Who Miller is

Miller joined Trump’s 2016 campaign as a speechwriter and is one of his longest-serving advisers. A former aide to Jeff Sessions, Trump’s first attorney general, he is the architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies. He is currently deputy chief of staff.

Wiles was the first woman to hold the post and the longest-serving chief of staff of the Trump era. Trump went through four chiefs of staff in his first term.

What it means

The announcement lands in the first week after an election in which voters punished the president’s party in both chambers, with the war with Iran and high fuel prices among the complaints. A Democratic-run House and Senate will now be in a position to question the White House on both. Who will fill the deputy chief of staff job, and whether the Cabinet will change as well, has not been announced.