Miller's elevation is clearest signal yet Trump will double down, Journal says

Paletta writes Miller will have blind spots in his consequential new job

Stephen Miller’s elevation to White House chief of staff is the clearest signal yet that President Donald Trump intends to spend the final two years of his presidency doubling down on his core beliefs rather than seeking out deals with Democrats, according to Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal’s Washington coverage chief. Many of those core beliefs, Paletta wrote, were rejected by voters on Tuesday. Writing Friday in a special edition of the Journal’s Politics newsletter, Paletta also assessed that Miller — suddenly thrust into one of the most consequential jobs in the country — will have blind spots.

The Journal reported that Trump removed Susie Wiles as chief of staff and promoted Miller into the position on Friday afternoon. Miller is long known for a hard-line approach to immigration and has been one of Trump’s most loyal advisers since the early days of the first campaign, the Journal reported.

The job is much bigger than policies like immigration, though, Paletta wrote. Traditionally, the chief of staff is the key interlocutor for the president with Capitol Hill, corporate America and foreign leaders, and Paletta asked whether Miller is ready for that.

Wiles was more than just a chief of staff, according to the newsletter. Paletta wrote that Wiles was one of the primary liaisons between corporate America and the White House, and that prominent chief executives describe Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as the two people they felt would listen to their perspective.

With Wiles’s departure, Trump has so far shown no signs of adjusting his approach following the blowout midterm losses on Tuesday, Paletta wrote, even though a number of prominent Republicans have alleged the White House has lost touch with the country.

The Journal drew a comparison: after President Barack Obama’s big midterm losses in 2010, Obama appointed Bill Daley as chief of staff. Daley had spent many years in law and banking and was well-known to the business community.

Paletta placed the personnel change at the end of a three-day sequence following Tuesday’s vote. On Wednesday, the day after the loss, Trump spoke to reporters from the site of his still-under-construction ballroom; Paletta wrote that it was the president’s focus on this ballroom and other projects that turned many of his own supporters against him.

On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order meant to protect his remodeled Oval Office, though the Journal noted the order’s legal authorities are unclear. On Friday, Wiles was replaced by Miller.

Miller did work on Capitol Hill for many years, including time as a top adviser to then-Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama. That Hill knowledge could come in handy with Democrats planning an aggressive agenda, Paletta wrote, but Miller “will have his hands full. As will Trump.”

Paletta has covered Washington for 22 years as a reporter and editor, according to the newsletter, covering the White House, Congress, national security, the federal budget, economics and multiple market meltdowns. The special edition was curated and edited in collaboration with Yolanda McBride.