Stephen Miller, the architect of Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy and hardline crackdown on immigration, took up his new role as White House chief of staff on Monday.
Miller, 41, began his new role serving as Trump’s right-hand man after Republicans suffered massive losses nationwide in the midterm elections. He was previously serving as a deputy chief of staff.
On Friday, Trump announced on Truth Social that Miller – his most controversial aide – would replace Susie Wiles, his former chief of staff.
The announcement came as a surprise, because members of the Trump administration had denied reports that Wiles was on her way out. In recent weeks, several top women in the administration have stepped down, including Harmeet Dhillon, a top justice department official, and Katie Zacharia, who spent just five days as press secretary after replacing Karoline Leavitt.
Miller’s promotion came just days after voters rebuked the US president’s agenda just two years into his administration in the midterm elections .
Democrats accused Trump of not listening to voters by elevating Miller to a top role – especially because Trump’s harsh anti-immigration crackdowns rocked the nation over the last year.
Trump said himself that his mass deportation policy was “too tough” in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes which aired over the weekend.
“I think it was too tough,” Trump said. “I think it might be too tough, yeah. And a lot of people would say that it’s great. But a lot of people think it’s too tough.”
Despite that, Trump chose after the interview to elevate the man behind one of his most controversial policies to a larger role in the White House.
More administration staffing changes could be coming soon, in the wake of the midterm results and Miller’s appointment. Richard Walters, a White House deputy chief of staff who was one of Wiles’s closest allies, announced he would also be leaving the administration.
Trump said over the weekend that he had offered Dana White, the head of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the White House press secretary role. While he later claimed he was “only kidding”, the pair are due to meet on Monday.
