Trump Appoints Stephen Miller as Chief of Staff After Midterm Losses

President Donald Trump appointed Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff effective November 9, 2026, replacing Susie Wiles. The leadership change follows a landslide midterm election defeat in which Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate, including losses in historically red states like Texas, Kansas, and Iowa. While Trump publicly praised Wiles for her service, reports indicate he privately blamed her and his political team for the electoral results.

Miller, the architect of the administration's hard-line immigration and mass-deportation policies, is viewed by analysts as a signal that Trump will maintain a combative approach toward the incoming Democratic-led Congress. Democratic leaders, including Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, condemned the appointment, labeling Miller a "dangerous xenophobe" and a "reckless extremist." Some Republicans, such as Senator Thom Tillis and Representative Marlin Stutzman, also criticized the move as a "colossal mistake" that ignores voter backlash.

Concurrent with the shake-up, Trump hosted a Diwali celebration in the Oval Office on November 7, where entrepreneur Vishal Gondal presented him with a copy of the Hanuman Chalisa. Meanwhile, Trump has faced legal setbacks, including a court order halting the construction of a proposed Triumphal Arch in Washington, D.C. Following the elections, Trump shifted from initially accepting the results to questioning the honesty of the process on Truth Social, alleging that voting machines and early voting "dumps" made Republican victories impossible.