President Donald Trump has named Stephen Miller as his new White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles in the first major personnel shake-up of his second term. The move, announced on Friday, comes days after the Republicans suffered sweeping losses in the midterm elections, losing their majorities in both houses of Congress.
Trump announced the change in a post on his Truth Social account, saying Miller would take up the post on Monday, 9 November. “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,” he wrote. “Susie Wiles, who has done an outstanding job, will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation. I want to thank her for her service as Chief of Staff — She has done a great job!”
Wiles, 69, confirmed in a statement on X that Friday would be her last day in the role. “Today is my last day as White House Chief of Staff. Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime,” she wrote, adding that her commitment to the president and his mission would not change. Al Jazeera and CNN reported that she handed her resignation to Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday evening, although a source close to the White House told USA Today that Trump had fired her. The differing accounts have not been reconciled publicly.
Wiles was the first woman in American history to serve as White House chief of staff, holding the post since Trump began his second term on 20 January 2025. A veteran Florida political operative, she worked on all three of Trump's presidential campaigns and was widely credited with running the disciplined operation behind his 2024 comeback. She continued working through six months of treatment after being diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in March this year, announcing in September that she was cancer-free.
The shake-up is the first major staff change since Tuesday's midterm elections, in which the Democrats seized control of Congress. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Republicans lost a net total of at least 41 seats in the House of Representatives and at least seven seats in the Senate, including in states that have long voted Republican, such as South Carolina and Kansas. CNN reported that Trump had voiced fury at the strategy behind the defeats and that the change of chief of staff was the first significant move in response.
Miller, 41, is one of Trump's longest-serving and most influential advisers. As deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, he was the driving force behind the administration's hardline immigration policies, including mass deportations and a sharp tightening of asylum rules. Over the past year he widened his brief to cover broad areas of domestic policy, and he has argued publicly for an expansive view of presidential power. Unlike many of Trump's allies, he stayed loyal after the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, when others distanced themselves from the president.
Reaction to the appointment was swift and sharply divided. Supporters presented Miller as the figure best placed to drive Trump's agenda through the second half of the term, while critics warned that putting the author of the immigration crackdown at the centre of the White House would harden the administration's approach at a moment when voters have just delivered a rebuke. CNN noted that Wiles was the latest in a series of high-ranking women to leave the administration and be replaced by a man.
Wiles is not the only senior departure of recent months. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced her departure in August, and the president has yet to name a permanent replacement. The turnover has fuelled speculation in Washington about further changes, although it remains unclear whether Miller's appointment will be followed by a wider reshuffle or whether it is intended as a one-off reset after the election defeat.
The appointment also raises questions about the direction of the administration's domestic agenda. With the Democrats now in control of Congress, the White House will have little chance of passing major legislation, which makes executive action and enforcement the main route for Trump's programme. As chief of staff, Miller will be in a position to coordinate that effort from the centre of the White House, and his record suggests immigration enforcement will remain at the top of the list.
Miller formally takes over on Monday, and the first test of the new arrangement will come quickly, as the White House prepares for a Congress controlled by the opposition and for the opening of the new session in January. What role Wiles will play in the Trump political operation has not been made clear. For now, the departure of the aide who steered Trump's return to power, and her replacement by his most hardline adviser, marks the clearest sign yet that the president intends to meet the midterm defeat by doubling down rather than changing course.
