Key takeaways:
- Miller will become White House chief of staff on November 9, replacing Susie Wiles.
- Miller helped shape Trump’s immigration policies and has promoted a goal of at least 3,000 ICE arrests a day.
- Democrats criticized the appointment as they prepare to control both chambers of Congress in January.
President Donald Trump has named Stephen Miller, a longtime adviser who helped shape his immigration crackdown, as White House chief of staff after Republicans suffered heavy losses in the midterm elections. Miller will replace Susie Wiles on Monday, November 9.
Trump announced the appointment Friday, calling Miller “one of my most trusted advisors.” Asked by reporters why he made the change, Trump said Wiles had done “a very good job” but that he “wanted to make a change.” Miller, he added, had been with him “from the beginning” and was “a very good manager.”
“Sometimes in life you have to make moves,” Trump said.
Wiles will move to Trump’s political operation, which includes his super PAC, MAGA Inc., according to The Guardian. She described serving the president as “the honor of a lifetime.” Before becoming chief of staff, she managed Trump’s winning 2024 campaign alongside Chris LaCivita.
Miller, 41, served as an adviser and speechwriter during Trump’s first term and returned to the White House in January 2025 as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, according to Al Jazeera. He joined Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016 and has remained one of his most prominent defenders.
His work has centered on immigration. Al Jazeera reported that Miller helped shape the administration’s 2018 “Zero Tolerance” border policy, under which the arrest of adults crossing without legal documentation led to widespread family separations. Trump later changed the policy by executive order. Miller also backed restrictions on visas, including a travel ban affecting several Muslim-majority countries, and efforts to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program for people brought to the United States as children without documentation.
In Trump’s current term, Miller has helped direct a mass deportation campaign. In May 2025, he told Fox News the administration had set “a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day” and that Trump wanted the number to rise. Al Jazeera reported that Miller also unsuccessfully sought to end birthright citizenship.
The appointment comes as Democrats prepare to take control of both chambers of Congress in January. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Trump “learned nothing from his historic defeat.” Representative Robert Garcia, who is poised to chair the House oversight committee, told Miller to “lawyer up” and said Democrats would continue investigating him and challenge his policies “in Congress and the courts.”
Miller said he was “honored beyond words” by the appointment. He called Trump “the most transformative political leader in American History” and said the administration’s mission was to “Fight with all of our soul to support our President and defend this magnificent Republic.”
The NAACP’s president, Derrick Johnson, sharply criticized the choice, saying Miller “belongs nowhere near the Oval Office.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. welcomed the promotion in social media posts.
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