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After the crushing defeat of the Republican Party in the midterm elections, US President Donald Trump announced his readiness to cooperate with the Democrats, who gained control of both houses of the US Congress.
But on Friday, November 5, he named Stephen Miller, his tough political strategist and homeland security adviser, to serve as White House chief of staff. Miller succeeds Susan Wiles in this position.
Miller's appointment is not an attempt to extend an olive branch to Congress. Instead, the appointment may suggest that the president may be preparing for a political battle, which is why he has installed a hardline proponent of his line in a key position in the White House.
“Today, our mission is clearer than ever: fight tooth and nail to support our President and protect this great republic,” Miller wrote on social media site X, adding that he was “hugely honored” to receive the nomination from Trump.
The chief of staff position is one of the most powerful in Washington. Whoever occupies it controls access to the president, sets the agenda in the White House and serves as the main negotiator with Congress and other political forces.
“Stephen Miller has been with me from the beginning,” Trump told reporters after announcing his decision on Truth Social. “He understands everything.”
One of the key architects of White House policy
Miller is best known as a leading proponent of the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies, which included increased funding for law enforcement operations against immigrants throughout the United States.
Miller found himself in the media spotlight for calling Alex Pretty, an intensive care unit nurse shot and killed by federal immigration agents during a massive deportation operation in Minneapolis, a "domestic terrorist" and a "potential killer." He later took those comments back, noting that federal agents may not have "followed" established protocols.
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He also reportedly played a leading role in the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, as well as in actions against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific - operations that Trump critics have characterized as extrajudicial killings.
Miller joined Trump's team early in his 2016 presidential campaign, serving as a strategist and speaker whose fiery speeches warmed up crowds at raucous campaign rallies.
He became one of the few senior White House officials to serve throughout Trump's entire first term. He remained loyal to Trump even after he went into a kind of “political exile” after failing to challenge his 2020 election defeat. Miller later returned to Trump's team in the powerful position of deputy chief of staff for policy.
Susan Wiles, who co-managed Trump's successful re-election campaign in 2024, has proven herself to be a consummate professional. She managed to stay away from personnel changes, sudden changes in political course and personal conflicts.
However, in recent months, the president's attitude toward Wiles has begun to deteriorate amid a weakening of his political position in the United States, which ultimately led his party to a crushing defeat in the elections on Tuesday, November 3.
"A true conservative fighter"
In announcing Miller's appointment on Friday, Trump praised Miller's leadership skills, but dealing with Congress could be challenging for Miller.
It's hard to overstate how deeply disliked Miller is among most Democrats—and some Republicans, too.
“Stephen Miller is a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist with American blood on his hands,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on Social Media X. “His presence in government must be eliminated like a malignant tumor.”
Earlier this year, Miller posted on social media calling James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for the Texas Senate, "the first transgender candidate."
The Democratic Party responded in a strongly worded, profanity-laced manner, telling Miller to "shut up."
Now Miller will have to negotiate with the Senate, which includes James Talarico, one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party. Polls show 58% of voters thought the Trump administration's immigration controls had "gone too far," and Hispanic Americans were turning decisively against Republican candidates.
On Wednesday, November 4, Vice President J.D. Vance, one of the most likely contenders for the Republican nomination in the 2028 presidential election, published a post on social networks in which he tried to analyze the reasons for the Republican defeat in the midterm elections. In his post, he noted that he is "open to the idea of changing approaches to immigration enforcement." In particular, J.D. Vance proposed “increased control over companies that hire illegal workers.”
Now the scenario proposed by J.D. Vance appears less likely, given that leadership of the White House is moving into the hands of an immigration hardliner.
North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who is leaving office at the end of this year, sharply criticized Miller. He called him "incompetent" and "the author of some of the dumbest proposals" the Trump administration has ever introduced.
However, other Republicans, on the contrary, spoke of Miller with praise.
“Stephen Miller has been a true conservative warrior since his days on the Senate staff, a staunch defender of law and order against illegal infiltration and leftist lawlessness, and a loyal ally of President Trump for over a decade,” Utah Senator Mike Lee wrote on Social Media X.
While Democrats in Congress promise to initiate new investigations and reviews of the Trump administration, it is becoming clear that this is the kind of “fighter”—a person ready for tough confrontation—that the president needs to run the White House.
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