What do you do when the entire country tells you, in unmistakable and politically apocalyptic terms, that they are tired of your shit? If you’re Donald Trump, you are likely incapable of doing anything other than doubling down on your worst impulses, and that’s exactly what the president did on Friday.
In his first major political move since Republicans’ annihilation in the 2026 midterm elections, Trump has announced that he will be promoting Stephen Miller — the architect of some of his most inhumane and unpopular policies — to White House Chief of Staff, replacing Susie Wiles, who had served in the role since Trump retook office last year. Miller had been serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff prior to his promotion this week.
“I am pleased to announce that Mr. Stephen Miller, the current Deputy Chief of Staff of the Trump Administration, and one of my most trusted advisors, will become the Chief of Staff starting Monday, November 9, 2026,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added that Wiles “will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation. I want to thank her for her service as Chief of Staff — She has done a great job!”
In a statement released on social media, Wiles confirmed that she would be ceding her post, adding that while her “role may be changing,” her “commitment to the President and the mission never will.” It’s not clear exactly what the “Trump Political Operation” is, and what Wiles role will be within it.
The outgoing chief of staff, a longtime political consultant credited with orchestrating much of the president’s 2024 campaign strategy, announced earlier this year that she had been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, and received successful treatment over the summer.
Miller has been the face and voice of the most extreme wing of the MAGA-aligned right for years. He has long espoused white nationalism, and was the mastermind behind the Trump administration’s family separation policy during the president’s first term, and of the racist, xenophobic crackdowns on immigration and communities of color that have defined Trump 2.0.
As previously reported by Rolling Stone, it was Miller who pressed the administration to set absurd quotas for migrant arrests and deportations, moved to revoke civil protections and due process rights from detainees, and exerted effective control over the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.
Miller has vociferously defended the actions of the administration at every turn. In the aftermath of an election in which voters across the political spectrum made clear the politics of divisiveness, violence, and self aggrandizement peddled by current White House leadership are not serving them, one would hope there would be at least a few days of introspection — or at least of shrewd political strategizing to mitigate downstream losses. Instead Trump is handing even more power and influence to one of his most controversial advisers, and Americans will continue to suffer for it.
