After the defeat for the Republicans in the midterms, there is a first personnel consequence. An important mastermind from Trump's inner circle of power is leaving.
Miller was particularly notable for his aggressive rhetoric. (Archive photo) Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP/dpa
Washington. A few days after his Republicans' devastating election debacle, US President Donald Trump appointed a political hardliner as his chief of staff in the White House. Stephen Miller is best known as a central architect of mass migrant deportations. He was previously deputy to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who is now leaving her post.
“I wanted to make a change,” Trump told reporters at the White House afterwards. Wiles did a great job, but “sometimes in life” you have to change things. Miller was at his side “from the beginning” and was “a good man.”
Devastating election defeat
In the congressional elections, the Republicans lost their majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives to the Democrats. This is a devastating result for Trump, who made the election a vote on his policies. Since then, positional battles have been going on in the Republican Party over its future direction. There was also speculation as to whether Trump would reorganize his cabinet and his circle of power.
Wiles is now the first to go. However, it should remain in Trump's political environment. Wiles had already submitted her resignation on Thursday evening, US broadcaster CBS News reported, citing an insider. According to the broadcaster MS NOW, Trump previously criticized Wiles because of the election defeat for the Republicans.
The 41-year-old Miller is known for his hardliner positions. He is one of the few Trump advisors who survived the entire first term. Miller used the years of Joe Biden's presidency to lay the foundation for Trump's new attempt. As one of Trump's very close confidants, he wrote many of his speeches and is considered the intellectual root of his politics.
During Trump's second term in office, Miller was particularly notable for his controversial statements about migration and birthright. The extremely harsh crackdown by the immigration agency ICE, in which two US citizens were killed, contributed to Trump's policies becoming less popular in recent months.
Democratic Representative Robert Garcia, who is expected to chair the influential Oversight Committee in the newly elected House of Representatives, then announced further investigations against Miller over immigration policy. “Stephen Miller should get lawyers,” Garcia emphasized.
What Wiles stood for
As chief of staff, Wiles was responsible for organizing the president's day-to-day administration. The 69-year-old political strategist is considered extremely loyal and discreet. Wiles was the first woman to hold the post and was previously, among other things, Trump's campaign manager.
It was announced in the spring that Wiles had breast cancer. “As one of my closest and most important advisors, Susie is a strong individual and deeply committed to serving the American people,” Trump wrote at the time. In September, Wiles announced that he had won his battle against the disease.
Wiles came into the public eye last December because of an article in Vanity Fair. In it, Wiles judged her boss surprisingly bluntly and harshly. Trump has the “personality of an alcoholic,” she said, for example. The magazine did not quote the entire sentence from the conversation at this point. Wiles later accused the magazine of taking statements out of context.
