WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller was replacing Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, installing as his closest adviser a loyal, combative bulldog for his “America First” agenda as the president prepares to stare down a newly empowered Democratic Congress next year.
Miller, long a key member of Trump’s inner circle, is a key architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies.
He is one of Trump’s longest-serving aides, joining his long-shot 2016 presidential campaign as a speechwriter.
He most recently has served as White House deputy chief of staff for policy and oversees a broad portfolio, though he is best known for his role in Trump’s immigration policy.
The staff shuffle signals that Trump, whose Republican Party was handed monumental defeats in Tuesday’s midterm elections, is resisting a conciliatory approach to Democratic lawmakers who are eager to investigate the administration — including Miller himself as a top target.
Miller, 41, is a dogged defender of Trump and has built a deep and sophisticated understanding of a president’s executive power and how the federal government operates, portending a potential burst of executive actions in the final two years of Trump’s presidency.
Wiles gave Trump her resignation on Thursday night, a person familiar with the events told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe the private conversation.
Trump praised Wiles and said she’d continue to work for his political organisation.
Wiles, the steely political operator and longtime adviser to Trump, was the first woman to ever serve in that post and the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Trump, who cycled through four of them during his first four-year term.
“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 in a social media post shortly after Trump’s announcement.
The departure also came months after Wiles indicated she no longer showed evidence of breast cancer after she underwent months of treatment for the disease, a diagnosis she went public with in March 2026.
Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.
