Stephen Miller Will Replace Susie Wiles As White House Chief Of Staff

President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post Friday that longtime aide Stephen Miller will replace Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, elevating the immigration hardliner to one of the most important roles in the White House.

Trump said in the post that Wiles had “done an outstanding job” and would be moving to his political operation. He later told reporters that Miller “gets it very good politically, and he's a very [good] guy. He'll do a great job. Great manager."

The surprise move came just days after Republicans faced a humiliating midterms defeat at the hands of Democrats, who flipped control of the House and Senate and made significant inroads into some deep red states, including Texas.

Asked for comment about Wiles’ departure, the White House referred to Trump’s remarks earlier Friday before reporters. When asked why he made the change, Trump said Wiles has done a “great job. But I just wanted to make” a change.

Miller, who accompanied Trump on Marine One departing the White House earlier Friday, in a post on X praised the president and thanked Wiles while striking a familiar combative tone.

“The mission now is more clear than ever: Fight with all of our soul to support our President,” he posted.

A person close to the White House, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, said Wiles likely wouldn’t have been ousted if Republicans had done much better on Tuesday night, but added “it's important to get some fresh blood" into the White House.

“I know for a fact that the president was frustrated that Susie acted as a restraining bull,” said another person familiar with the relationship between Wiles and the president.

While some Democrats predictably reacted with derision – Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jefries Friday called Miller a “a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist” – some Republicans, GOP lobbyists and former officials praised Miller for being a tough leader who could help fight Democrats’ oversight in the next Congress.

“I would put Stephen as a war-time general. I’m not going to say a very good one,” said a former Trump official who worked with Miller, granted anonymity to discuss the internal moves. “You got to be ready for combat.”

Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wiles, 69, has been one of the president’s closest and most trusted political advisers, helping spearhead his political comeback after his 2020 election defeat and serving as co-manager of his successful 2024 presidential campaign, alongside GOP operative Chris LaCivita.

A longtime Republican with significant roots in Florida politics, Wiles became the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff when Trump returned to office in January 2025.

Under her purview, the White House has been far steadier than it was during his first term, when the president cycled through four chiefs of staff amid frequent infighting and staff turnover. But it hasn’t been turmoil-free. This year the president’s Department of Homeland Security secretary, attorney general and Labor secretary have all exited the administration amid scandal or unrest over how they ran their agencies.

Wiles’ departure comes amid widespread recriminations over Republicans’ blistering defeat at the polls on Tuesday night, which led to calls for her resignation.

Wiles was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in March but continued to serve as chief of staff while undergoing treatment. In September, she announced she was cancer-free.

Wiles, in a post on X, said that serving Trump has “been the honor of a lifetime.”

“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,” she said.

Some Republicans blamed Tuesday’s massive midterm loss on Miller, who has served as the architect of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, whose enforcement tactics have been deeply unpopular. In border states, especially Texas and Arizona, Hispanic voters turned out for Democrats and helped drive Republican defeats.

Miller, 41, got his start in Washington working for conservative Republican members of Congress after graduating in 2007 from Duke University, where he was involved in campus conservative activism. He started working for then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) in 2009 and was involved in the conservative senator’s opposition to a bipartisan immigration bill in 2013 that passed the Senate but died in the House.

Miller joined Trump’s first presidential campaign as a policy adviser and speechwriter, where he helped shape Trump’s immigration platform. After Trump’s victory, he moved into the administration and helped develop several of the first Trump term’s high-profile immigration policies, including the family-separation border policy and the 2017 travel ban targeting several predominantly Muslim countries.

He returned to the White House with Trump in the second administration as the principal architect of the president’s immigration and border security directives.

Caroline Wren, a GOP operative, praised Miller as someone who could reinforce Trump’s America First agenda, especially in the face of Democratic opposition.

“The next two years are going to be a battle for the future of our country and I can’t think of any better wartime consigliere than Stephen Miller,” she said.

But two GOP lobbyists, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said they expected the transition would make the White House less effective at engaging with K Street and Capitol HIll.

“Your chief of staff becomes the president's voice and face in negotiating with Democrats, and I don't think he has proven any ability to do that,” said one of the lobbyists. “His sensibilities aren’t the type that can have a reasonable discussion with Democrats on issues … and he's such a lightning rod for most Democrats, particularly this progressive wing, that I find it difficult to believe that he's going to be able to have kind of conversations to forge bipartisan agreement on any number of things.”

The first lobbyist added that Miller “has never been accessible to downtown either in the first term or now,” comparing the new chief to Wiles, a former lobbyist for K Street firm Ballard Partners who made it a point to maintain downtown relationships.

“This doesn't make it seem like the White House is interested in working on getting a lot of bills that the president will be interested in signing to his desk,” added the second Republican lobbyist who is also a GOP donor.

Alex Gangitano, Jacob Wendler, Ben Johansen, Casey He and Elleiana Green contributed to this article.