President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is replacing Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff with longtime adviser Stephen Miller, following Republican losses in Tuesday's midterm elections. Wiles submitted her resignation Thursday night after Trump blamed her for the election results in which Republicans lost control of Congress. Trump will install Miller, currently deputy chief of staff, in the position starting Monday.
Wiles had offered to resign for two days before Trump accepted her decision Friday. A source who spoke with Wiles said Trump did not directly ask for her resignation but could not stop blaming her rather than himself for the midterm losses. The source said Wiles recognized that if she could not change Trump's view, there was no reason to remain.
Miller, who also served in Trump's first administration, has been working on plans to maintain executive authority despite large Democratic majorities in Congress. A Trump adviser described Miller as a wartime adviser needed to prepare for Democratic investigations. Miller was an architect of Trump's aggressive use of executive power during his first hundred days in office.
Wiles was Trump's longest-serving chief of staff and the first woman to hold the position. She earned an extraordinary level of trust from Trump and often served as the last person he consulted before major decisions. Her influence stemmed from managing his 2016 Florida campaign and his political comeback after the Jan. 6 riot. Wiles had privately opposed the war in Iran and hardline immigration enforcement championed by Miller, policies that contributed to Tuesday's Republican losses.