Who is Stephen Miller? Meet Trump’s new chief of staff — explained his views on Iran, Venezuela and Greenland | Today’s news

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Stephen Miller would replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, just days after Republicans lost control of the US Congress in the midterm elections.

Wiles announced her departure on social media, calling serving Trump “the honor of a lifetime.”

“I am so proud to have been a part of what we have accomplished together from securing our borders and lowering taxes to strengthening our economy and putting America first,” she wrote. “More than anything, I am grateful for the exceptional people I have had the privilege of working with.

“While my role may change, my commitment to the president and the mission will never change,” Wiles said.

Long a key member of Trump’s inner circle, Miller is a key architect of the administration’s tough immigration policies. Wiles, a steely political operator and the first woman in the post, was Trump’s longest-serving White House chief and longtime adviser.

Who is Stephen Miller, Trump’s new chief of staff?

A longtime member of Trump’s inner circle, Miller is a key architect of the administration’s tough immigration policies.

He is one of Trump’s most loyal and longest-serving advisers. He came aboard Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign as a speechwriter and has remained in the president’s orbit.

Miller, 41, currently serves as the White House’s deputy chief of staff, and while his portfolio is broad, Miller is most closely associated with Trump’s actions and rhetoric on immigration.

He is a former Capitol Hill staffer who worked for former Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Alabama Republican who was Trump’s first attorney general.

During the midterm campaign, Miller frequently sided with Democrats, calling them “extremists, lunatics and lunatics who hate America” ​​on social media. He also promoted baseless theories about voter fraud in California and Alaska.

Miller is a staunch Trump defender and has built a deep and sophisticated understanding of the president’s executive power and the workings of the federal government, foreshadowing a potential burst of executive action in the final two years of Trump’s presidency.

He was a major part of the Trump administration’s anti-fraud task force on benefits programs and the decision to suspend Microsoft and others from the green card program.

He also served as White House Homeland Security Advisor, which gave him a perch from which to coordinate with other government agencies.

Stephen Miller’s views on Iran, Venezuela and Greenland

Miller praised the US-Israeli attacks on Iran earlier this year. In March 2026, Miller spoke about US-Israeli attacks on Iran. According to The Independent, he called them “politically incorrect” and attacked what he called a “woke Pentagon” under previous administrations.

“What you’re seeing right now … is a military under President Trump that is not fighting politically correct. It’s not fighting with its hands tied behind its back,” Miller said.

Later, on August 29, 2026, Miller said Trump had accomplished more against Iran than any previous American leader, according to Iran International. He pointed to the Strait of Hormuz and the destruction of much of Iran’s military leadership.

“The fact that the strait is open to America and closed to Iran. Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, their radars are gone, their entire military command structure is gone, the entire terrorist leadership of the country is gone,” Miller told reporters, according to Iran International.

He called it “the most asymmetric military success in the modern history of military warfare,” according to the outlet.

About Venezuela and Greenland: In a January 6, 2026 report, The New York Times described how Miller became increasingly involved in Trump’s foreign policy ambitions, including those involving Venezuela and Greenland.

According to The New York Times, Miller also reiterated the president’s intention to rule Venezuela after the US military strike that detained Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

Who is Susie Wiles?

Wiles is the first woman to ever serve as White House Chief of Staff

Wiles managed Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign. She has long been seen as a check on some of his most destructive impulses.

Wiles, 69, is the second woman to lead Trump’s presidential campaign to victory, though she never took on the formal title of campaign manager.

She was credited with managing the most disciplined of his three presidential bids, and Trump himself said he was often told that Wiles ran his “best-run campaign.”

The president often referred to her as an “Ice Maiden” and at the start of his second term she was considered an unwise choice to serve as White House chief of staff.

“I wanted to make a change,” Trump explains of the chief of staff’s upheaval

Trump praised both Wiles and Miller to reporters, but said it was time for a change.

“Susie did a very good job. A great job,” Trump said as he left the White House for Florida. But he said, “Sometimes we have to move.”

Trump said Miller was great.

“He gets it” and is “very good politically. And he’s a very good person. He’ll do a great job, a great manager,” Trump said.

Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York said Trump’s decision to name Miller White House chief “is a desperate and irresponsible cry for attention.”

He said Miller was the architect of Trump’s immigration policy and voters “rejected mass deportations, targeting Latino communities.”

Giving Miller “a junior title is just putting lipstick on a pig,” he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Rep. Robert Garcia, who is up for chairman of the Oversight Committee, said Trump is “doubling down” on administration policies that voters just rejected in the midterm elections.

“Stephen Miller is the architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families,” said Garcia, from California.

Garcia said the committee continues to investigate Miller “for his misconduct and we will fight his hateful policies in Congress and in the courts.”

US Midterm Election Results: What Does the Change Mean?

The hiring signals that Trump, whose Republican Party suffered monumental defeats in Tuesday’s midterm elections, is resisting a conciliatory approach to Democratic lawmakers eager to investigate the administration — including Miller himself as a prime target.

The strength of the Democrats’ majority in Congress will be decided by several remaining Senate and House elections, which must be called by the Associated Press.

Democrats will hold at least 54 seats in the 100-member Senate next year, and as many as 56 depending on final results in Alaska and Mississippi — where contests remain tight and votes still remain open.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is likely to return as majority leader next year, vowed in an interview with the AP that Democrats would prevent the Republican president from appointing a “right-winger” to the Supreme Court or “lousy nominees” elsewhere in the federal judiciary or in Trump’s cabinet.