Stephen Miller takes over Trump White House as Susie Wiles shifts roles - Newsweek

Stephen Miller will replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, President Donald Trump announced on Friday, elevating one of his most trusted advisers to the administration’s top staff position.

Wiles, who has served as chief of staff since Trump returned to office in January 2025, will move to what the president described as the “Trump Political Operation,” though he did not provide further details about her new role.

The major shake-up comes just days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections.

Trump posted on Truth Social: "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. Susie Wiles, who has done an outstanding job, 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! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

Speaking briefly to reporters before a trip to Florida, Trump praised both Wiles and Miller, and added, "We've got to make moves. Sometimes in life you have to make moves."

When reached for comment via email, the White House directed Newsweek to a post on X by Steven Cheung, the White House director of communications.

"Stephen Miller is a Trump OG, someone who has been with the President since the very beginning. There is no bigger advocate for the Trump agenda than Stephen, and he will help the Administration deliver on monumental victories for the rest of this historic second term," Cheung wrote.

Doug Heye, a Republican strategist and former Republican National Committee communications director, cautioned against reading too much into the personnel change.

“Names have and will be bandied about, but the only name that matters is Donald Trump,” Heye told Newsweek via email.

Wiles, the first woman to serve as a White House chief of staff, wrote on X: “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, 69, a veteran Republican political operative and longtime Trump adviser, is the president's longest-serving chief of staff after he went through four people in the position during his first term. Earlier this year, Wiles disclosed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She later said that months of treatment had left her with no evidence of the disease.

Trump, who has nicknamed Wiles the “Ice Maiden,” has long praised the veteran Republican strategist for her disciplined approach to politics.

Cheung said in a separate post on X, "I will always be indebted to @SusieWiles for bringing me back into Trump World during the in-between period. She didn’t have to, but she did. Her kindness and grace, along with an unrelenting will to win for President Trump speaks to her unimpeachable character. Thank you, Susie!"

Miller, 41, has been a fixture in Trump’s political orbit since joining his 2016 presidential campaign as a speechwriter. He has since emerged as one of the president’s most influential aides and a principal architect and public defender of the administration’s hardline immigration agenda.

Before joining Trump’s first presidential campaign, Miller worked for then-Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, who later became Trump’s first attorney general.

Miller grew up in Santa Monica, California, and graduated from Duke University before beginning his career in Republican politics. He is married to Katie Miller, a former Trump administration and Mike Pence communications official who later worked with Elon Musk’s government-efficiency effort and became a conservative podcaster. They married in 2020 and have four children.

The White House chief of staff is one of the president’s most powerful aides, responsible for overseeing White House staff and operations and helping coordinate the administration’s priorities. The chief typically manages the flow of information and people to the president, works across senior staff and Cabinet officials, and helps determine which issues reach the Oval Office.

The position can also play a central role in enforcing discipline inside an administration and translating the president’s agenda into action. The exact influence varies by president, but the chief of staff often serves as a key link between the White House, federal agencies and Congress, making the role particularly important as Trump prepares to work with a newly divided government.

Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Wiles and Miller, calling Wiles “one of the kindest and toughest people I’ve ever met” and saying Trump had made the “perfect choice” in selecting Miller to succeed her.

“No one is more loyal, more hardworking, or more in touch with the America First movement than Stephen,” Leavitt said in a post on X.

Looking ahead to the final two years of Trump’s term, she added: “Now is the time to fix what’s not working and double down on all of the victories we’ve already achieved.”

The shake-up comes amid broader personnel turmoil in the Trump administration. Three Department of Justice officials resigned Thursday and Friday, including one who was leading efforts to investigate alleged voter fraud.

Trump is also reportedly weighing Pete Hegseth’s future as defense secretary, after the president and senior administration officials acknowledged that the Iran war contributed to Democrats retaking both chambers of Congress in the midterms.

Hegseth is adamant that he won't be the fall guy. On Thursday, he said in a video posted on social media that he believed conflict was a "courageous and historic effort," regardless of how American voters feel about it.

And Trump, for the moment, is standing by the Pentagon head. The president said he had "every intention" of keeping Hegseth on, but, in a nod to potential daylight between the two, acknowledged he had received calls about the defense secretary's political future.

This is a breaking news article. Updates to follow.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Dave Siminoff.