New chief of staff in the White House: extremist Stephen Miller moves up

After the Republicans' catastrophic election defeat in this year's midterm elections, heads have rolled in the White House. US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that his current chief of staff Susie Wiles will be leaving her post. Her successor will be Stephen Miller. Trump called him “one of my most trusted advisors” in a post on Truth Social.

The new chief of staff position is the first major personnel shakeup within his administration following the midterm election fiasco. By choosing Miller, the president shows that, despite the clear electoral disappointment, he sees no reason to make any major changes to his policies.

Miller is a longtime presidential aide and co-designer of Project 2025, which is a blueprint for transforming executive power. The declared goal of this work is the destruction of democratic institutions and the concentration of power in the person of the president.

He is also one of the architects of several controversial measures: including aggressive immigration policies and military action against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific.

Miller himself praised Trump in a post as “the most influential political leader” in US history. He declared that he had “single-handedly saved America from those who wanted to destroy it.” “The mission is now clearer than ever: we must fight with all our souls to support our president and defend this great republic,” he added.

Shortly after the election defeat, Trump said he might want to work with Democrats. However, Miller's appointment as chief of staff and his self-promotion as “Mister Veto” on social networks suggest otherwise.

According to the US media, Miller is not interested in compromises, but rather in strengthening the MAGA coalition, which was weakened as a result of the election results. “Stephen is and always has been the eternal flame of the MAGA movement — putting the president’s words and policies into action,” Miller’s former aide Hunter Morgen told the New York Times.

“I wanted change,” Trump told reporters. Wiles did a “great job,” Trump said, but “sometimes in life you just have to make changes.”

Although Trump defends Wiles' work in his public statements, there are said to have been rifts between the two behind the scenes. The 69-year-old Wiles, who will officially retire on Monday, was Trump's longest-serving chief of staff with a term of 21 months.

She played a key role in Trump's successful election campaign in 2024 and his return to the White House. She is also said to have ensured stability and cohesion within the government.

Although the decision to part ways with his chief of staff was due to the election defeat, recent personnel decisions by the president, such as the failed appointment of Katie Zacharia as press secretary against Wiles' wishes, are also said to have damaged the relationship between the two.

As US media reports, Trump is said to have blamed Wiles, among other things, for the Republicans' defeat, which he attributes to a wrong strategy. Wiles, who was diagnosed with breast cancer while in office, will move to a new position outside the government but will remain part of Trump's political circle.

The president also made it clear on Friday that this would not be the last change. When asked if he planned to lay off employees, he replied with a curt “yes.” "I love my Cabinet. I think it's good. But I might make a few changes. I don't want to say who exactly," Trump said.

Others who could lose their jobs after the defeat in the midterm elections include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the US military command CENTCOM. Both are said to have been drivers of the Iran war, which is extremely unpopular among the US population and thus contributed to the Democrats' election victory.