Trump names Stephen Miller chief of staff after midterm rout

Washington — Donald Trump has named Stephen Miller, the architect of his hardline immigration crackdown, as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles in the first major shake-up since voters handed Democrats control of Congress in this week's midterm elections. Trump announced the appointment on Friday on his Truth Social platform, calling Miller "one of my most trusted advisors".

The reaction from Democrats was ferocious, the Guardian reported. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said that "for Trump to promote this hatemonger shows he has learned nothing", while Chuck Schumer, expected to become Senate majority leader, said Trump "couldn't have made a worse choice". Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader widely expected to become the chamber's first Black speaker, called Miller "a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands" and demanded he be fired. California's outgoing governor Gavin Newsom described him as "one of the most vile thugs to ever slither into the Oval Office".

Republicans were split. White House communications director Steven Cheung called Miller a "Trump OG", and senators Mike Lee and Eric Schmitt praised him as a defender of law and order. But Indiana congressman Marlin Stutzman told Semafor the promotion was a "horrible decision", and Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security chief of staff turned Trump critic, called it "among the most dangerous personnel decisions in the history of our republic".

Miller, 41, has been deputy chief of staff and one of Trump's longest-serving advisers, according to The Hindu. Raised in liberal Santa Monica, California, he made his name as a combative conservative columnist at Duke University, worked for then-senator Jeff Sessions and joined Trump's 2016 campaign. An author of the rightwing Project 2025 manifesto, he designed the mass deportation programme that defined the first year of Trump's second term, setting a target of 3,000 arrests per day. He drew widespread criticism after immigration agents shot dead two protesters in Minneapolis in January, and denounced the Supreme Court's rejection of his push to end birthright citizenship.

The White House defended the choice, hailing Miller as a "key player" behind its crime crackdown, deregulation and border policy. Miller said he was "honored beyond words", writing on X: "The mission now is more clear than ever: Fight with all of our soul to support our President and defend this magnificent Republic."

The appointment signals confrontation rather than conciliation after what Schumer called Trump's "historic defeat". The first test comes when the new Democratic-controlled Congress takes office, with Schumer and Jeffries poised to lead chambers that have already promised to scrutinise the deportation drive Miller built.