Stephen Miller replacing Susie Wiles as chief of staff as Trump grows furious with midterm results, sources say

By Kevin Liptak, Kristen Holmes, Kaitlan Collins, Priscilla Alvarez, Adam Cancryn, CNN

(CNN) — Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, is departing her role days after catastrophic Republican midterm losses in a seismic staff shakeup at the White House. She will be replaced by Stephen Miller, a longtime aide to President Donald Trump who orchestrated his hardline immigration agenda.

The move is the first major personnel shuffling after the midterms, and came after Trump voiced fury at the strategy that led to Republicans decisively losing majorities in the House and Senate, people familiar with the matter said. And the president signaled Friday it will not be the last, telling CBS News “I do” when asked if he intended to fire people.

“I love my Cabinet. I think they’re good. But I’ll be doing maybe a few changes. I don’t want to mention who,” Trump said.

Yet the decision to elevate Miller — one of the most powerful and controversial engineers of Trump’s second term — to the top staff position in the West Wing is a sign the president does not intend to fundamentally change his governing approach.

Trump said Wiles would move to his political operation, adding that she “has done an outstanding job.” And as he departed the White House for an event in Florida Friday, he praised Miller.

“Stephen’s been great, and sometimes in life, you gotta make moves,” Trump told reporters shortly after announcing the staffing shakeup.

“Stephen’s been with me from beginning. He gets it, very good politically, and he’s a very good man,” he added.

Wiles submitted her resignation on Thursday evening, two sources familiar with the matter said, and the president announced that the move would take effect Monday.

Trump, who initially appeared unfazed by the results of the Tuesday night midterms, has become angrier as he’s watched coverage of the historic losses, according to the people familiar with his response. That sour mood has spread throughout the West Wing, which has become increasingly factionalized in recent days. Aides have described a workplace filled with tension and infighting, likening it to the “knives out” days of Trump’s first term, and Wiles’ departure will likely accelerate the shift in the balance of power in his inner circle.

Trump made his displeasure with his political team known starting at a tense election night reception in the East Room, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. He vented that deep Republican losses were the result of their strategy. Wiles was among those Trump blamed for the Republican losses, the person said.

As it became clear the president was unhappy with her, Wiles decided to resign, believing he should be able to tap someone to lead his White House that had his confidence, according to a person familiar with her thinking. Wiles had always said she’d remain at the White House until the end of Trump’s second term. But the person familiar noted that Wiles had a tough year personally, given her cancer diagnosis and treatment, saying: “It wasn’t worth her staying in a job Trump was making clear he didn’t want her in.” Wiles loyalists inside the White House on Friday were waiting to see if they would remain in their posts. Trump said publicly late Friday his chief of staff’s departure was “not because of the election.”

“It’s just time. Sometimes you change,” he said.

Since the midterm wipeout, Trump had heard from several allies and associates who urged him to make changes to his senior staff in response to the losses, a source familiar with the matter said. But the move nonetheless came as a shock to many in the administration, and multiple White House officials told CNN it left them concerned about the rest of Trump’s second term.

“Susie keeps the trains running on time. I don’t know what this looks like moving forward,” one official said.

Another Trump ally called it a “catastrophic loss” for the president.

Elevating an immigration hardliner

Miller, currently a deputy chief of staff who has been the mastermind behind some of Trump’s most polarizing priorities, has widened his portfolio over the past year to include wide swaths of domestic policy and has advocated for an expansive view of executive power. He has worked for Trump since his first presidential campaign, which began in 2015, and has long been viewed as one of Trump’s most influential advisers.

His wife, Katie, has a podcast where administration officials and Trump allies regularly appear, and one guest said that some feared they couldn’t say no to her requests to be a guest, for fear of getting in Miller’s crosshairs. Katie Miller appeared to confirm reporting in Politico that she lobbied for her husband to get the job, writing on X in response to the article, “If your wife doesn’t do this, find a new one.”

“It has been the privilege of my lifetime to have served on his team from Day One, and I am honored beyond words to serve as his White House Chief of Staff,” Stephen Miller posted on X Friday.

He thanked Wiles for her service and friendship before adding, “The mission now is more clear than ever: Fight with all of our soul to support our President and defend this magnificent Republic.”

Administration officials who spoke with CNN viewed the change as a sign the White House was doubling down on the president’s immigration crackdown, despite waning public support for its policies. Trump had asked allies over the past several days whether they believed Miller would be a suitable choice to replace Wiles, one person familiar with the conversations said. He also raised Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton as a possible candidate, the person said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — whom some in the GOP have sought to blame for the party’s losses because of his leadership on the Iran war — welcomed the news, saying in a post on X that Miller “never backs down” and vowing his support. Hegseth and Wiles’ relationship had significantly fractured. For months, people familiar with the matter said, Wiles had raised concerns about his leadership inside the Pentagon and his role in Trump’s Cabinet.

Some Homeland Security officials expressed disbelief, while others welcomed the change.

“Trump got his MAGA mojo back,” a Department of Homeland Security official said.

CNN previously reported that Miller’s power became evident in daily 10 a.m. conference calls with DHS officials, where he demanded updates from agencies and exerted pressure on senior officials who delivered less-than-satisfactory results. Officials would often breathe a sigh of relief when Miller directed his ire at other agencies during the calls.

The intense White House pressure has resulted in immigration enforcement casting a wide net on arrests, including targeting those who do not have criminal records.

Last year, Miller directed ICE officials to meet daily quotas of 3,000 immigration arrests — an unprecedented number that the agency struggled to meet. The White House and DHS have repeatedly denied the existence of arrest quotas. Already, Miller was likely to face scrutiny from the incoming Democratic-controlled Congress, and Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, reaffirmed Friday he would be a top target.

“Stephen Miller should lawyer up,” the California Democrat said.

Wiles is latest high-ranking woman to leave

After the president announced the shakeup, Wiles said in a statement on X that serving Trump was “the honor of a lifetime” and that she was “proud to have been a part of what we’ve accomplished together.”

“While my role may be changing, my commitment to the President and the mission never will,” she added.

Wiles is the latest high-ranking woman to depart Trump’s administration and be replaced by a man. Trump previously parted ways with women serving as attorney general, Labor secretary and Homeland Security secretary, among others.

Before becoming the first-ever woman to serve as White House chief of staff, Wiles was Trump’s campaign manager in the 2024 election. She recently announced she had completed treatment for breast cancer.

Trump cycled through four chiefs of staff during his first term. Wiles lasted longer in the post than any of them. She adopted a strategy that did not seek to fundamentally alter the way Trump carried out the job or change his priorities. Instead, she sought to use influential figures within Trump’s orbit to shape his governing agenda.

Trump, who frequently used the term “ice maiden” to describe his no-nonsense top aide, had as recently as last month insisted she would remain in the job for the foreseeable future.

“Susie is here and she’s gonna be here for a long time,” he said on October 16.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo contributed to this report.