President Donald Trump said he was tapping longtime aide Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff and that Susie Wiles is moving to his political operation, shaking up his White House team days after a devastating midterm result.
The move comes after rival Democrats dominated Tuesday's midterm elections, handily winning control of both chambers of Congress. Elevating Miller, the architect of the administration's hard-line immigration agenda and an advocate of aggressive administrative actions, is a signal the president is unlikely to moderate his policies or seek compromises with the new legislature despite an election that offered a sharp rebuke to his second term.
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The departure of Wiles, the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, deprives the president of a trusted adviser who quietly wielded considerable control over the West Wing's operations as he prepares for a lame-duck period and a hostile Democratic Congress that has vowed to ramp up oversight of the administration and his family's business dealings.
“I wanted to make a change,” Trump said, while leaving the White House on Friday. “Stephen's been with me from the beginning. He gets it. Very good, politically.”
More changes could be on the way. Trump, in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes taped Friday before the Miller announcement, was asked if he expected to fire anyone following the midterm loss.
“I do, yeah,” Trump said, according to an excerpt released by the network. “I love my cabinet. I think they're good,” he added, but said there may be a “few changes.”
Wiles in a statement said Friday would be her last day as chief of staff. She gave the president her resignation on Thursday night, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime. I'm so proud to have been a part of what we've accomplished together from securing our border and cutting taxes to strengthening our economy and putting America First,” Wiles said. “More than anything, I'm grateful for the extraordinary people I've had the privilege of working alongside. While my role may be changing, my commitment to the President and the mission never will.”
Wiles' White House exit caps what has been a challenging stretch for the chief of staff. She said in March that she'd been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer but continued to work in her role while undergoing treatment. In September, she announced she was cancer-free.
Trump had also been asking allies for their views on Wiles and mulling potential replacements for her, Politico reported in October, citing people with direct knowledge of the conversations. Trump at the time told the outlet he had “COMPLETE confidence” in Wiles and derided Politico's reporting as “TOTAL FAKE NEWS.”
In Miller, currently the deputy White House chief of staff and homeland security adviser, Trump is enlisting one of his closest and most powerful advisers, instrumental in the mass deportation raids of undocumented migrants and the narrowing of legal pathways to migration.
Miller, 41, served as a senior policy adviser during the first term, writing speeches for the president including his 2017 inauguration address, in which Trump cast a troubling picture of the state of the nation and vowed to reverse what he called “American carnage.” He was a key player behind some of the most controversial policies during Trump's first administration, including the travel ban and the practice of separating migrant children from their parents at the US-Mexico border.
Following Trump's 2020 election loss, Miller remained in his inner circle and founded America First Legal, a foundation that mounted challenges to corporate diversity, equality and inclusion efforts.
Democratic Representative Robert Garcia, who is set to lead the House Oversight Committee in the next Congress, vowed to investigate Miller over his role in the administration's immigration policies, telling him in a statement to “lawyer up.”
“Just days after the American people rejected his corrupt and lawless presidency, Donald Trump is doubling down,” Garcia added.
‘Ice Maiden'
Wiles, 69, was largely viewed as the power center in Trump's inner circle, appearing by the president's side at key moments, including inside the makeshift Situation Room at Mar-a-Lago when the US launched military strikes against Iran in late February. That conflict was a major contributor to Republicans' poor midterm showing after it brought a spike in energy prices that further squeezed household budgets.
Trump, who has referred to Wiles as an “ice maiden,” frequently praised his top aide for her steady leadership on his campaign and in the White House. Wiles previously managed Trump's 2024 campaign, a role in which she was lauded for largely controlling the infighting and turmoil that plagued the president's earlier runs.
But Wiles was not without her detractors. Critics questioned Wiles' hold on the job after it emerged that she was not involved in the decision to hire Katie Zacharia, who was named press secretary but abruptly resigned just days later after an unsteady performance in her initial interactions with the media. Scrutiny also fell on two Trump operatives aligned with Wiles, James Blair and Chris LaCivita, for work they did for the pro-Russian government of Republika Srpska. Wiles' daughter also worked for a firm paid to represent the Balkan territory.
A former White House official, Calley Means, criticized Wiles in a podcast with Joe Rogan that was published Friday afternoon, accusing her of slowing down policies popular with voters and using her perch to enrich her family. Means was a close adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and resigned shortly before the midterm elections amid food policy disagreements.
While turnover at the White House is ordinary after midterm elections, it wasn't clear that Wiles' departure had been preplanned. The move comes as the White House has a planned gathering for cabinet members and their families over the weekend at Camp David, according to a person familiar. Wiles isn't scheduled to attend, the person said.
Wiles largely avoided the spotlight during her time in the White House, leaning into her role as a deft political strategist and behind-the-scenes operator.
She raised eyebrows in December, however, when Vanity Fair published a bombshell piece in which she offered candid observations on a range of White House personalities, calling Vice President JD Vance a “conspiracy theorist” and accusing Elon Musk of being an “avowed” ketamine user. Of her own boss, the president, she said he had an “alcoholic's personality.”
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The daughter of the late American football player and broadcaster Pat Summerall, Wiles first entered Trump's orbit in 2015, when she served as his campaign co-chair in her home state of Florida. Two years after Trump's first successful White House campaign, Wiles helped elect Ron DeSantis to the Florida governor's mansion. DeSantis is seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender.
She returned to Trump's team for the 2020 cycle and after his loss to former President Joe Biden served as the CEO of the president's Save America PAC.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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