Among his reasons, Trump cited Miller as “a fighter and very loyal”
Stephen Miller began serving as President Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff on November 9, 2026, taking over from Susie Wiles. Miller had served as deputy chief of staff. NPR reported that President Donald Trump was changing his closest advisers after Democrats made huge gains in the midterm elections, and NPR host Leila Fadel called Miller’s elevation Trump’s first big personnel move after Trump’s party suffered an overwhelming defeat in the midterms. Fadel said Wiles, the previous chief of staff, had been seen as “something of a calming influence.”
The segment introduced NPR’s Mara Liasson as a former colleague of Miller to discuss the change. Liasson described Miller as a hard-liner on a number of issues, primarily mass deportations. She said he was also behind policies to revoke temporary protected status for immigrants from places like Somalia and Haiti and that he believed in unchecked executive power.
NPR host Steve Inskeep said Miller had worked the bureaucracy very hard over two terms, finding more and more ways to block both legal and illegal immigrants from the United States. Inskeep also said Miller had “shouty performances on TV” and added, “That’s his image.” Liasson replied, “That’s right.”
Trump said he was going to look for ways to work with Democrats. Liasson interpreted Miller’s promotion as a signal that Trump wanted to continue a confrontation. She said Miller had shown no interest in compromise and that Trump wanted to double down on his policies. Liasson said the choice showed Trump was ready for “a lot of fights with an opposition Congress” as the second half of Trump’s second term began. She also noted that Miller had called Democrats “extremists and freaks” and the Democratic Party a “domestic extremist organization.”
Trump said one of the reasons he chose Miller was because Miller was “a fighter and very loyal.” Liasson then played an archived recording from the previous year of Miller speaking about crime in Memphis, Tennessee. Miller said gangbangers thought they were ruthless, tough and hardcore but “have no idea” how ruthless, tough and hardcore the government was. He said, “We are so much more hardcore than they are” and “We have the entire weight of the United States government behind us.”
The CBS “60 Minutes” exchange occurred the previous night, before Miller’s November 9 start. Liasson said Trump said in the interview that his administration’s deportation policy may have gone too far. Trump said, “And there’s a large group of people think that they should be allowed to stay, so…” Ross Douthat asked, “So you think your deportation policy went too far?” Trump answered, “I think it was too tough.” Douthat interjected, “It was too tough.” Trump then added, “I think it might be too tough, yeah.”
Liasson said, “So there’s what he says and what he does.” One of Trump’s close allies, Roger Stone, said Trump turned to Miller because he wanted a “wartime consigliere.” Liasson said the choice showed how Trump was viewing the next two years: “fight, fight, fight.”
Over the weekend, Trump said on social media that he had offered the White House press secretary job to Ultimate Fighting Championship head Dana White, then said it was only a joke. Liasson said people could not tell “whether it was a joke or just a troll,” and that this was the issue. Trump said he liked White because he was “a violent fighter and warrior.” Liasson said Trump could have been serious at first and then changed his tune after seeing the response to White. Because he is president, Liasson said his statements have to be taken both seriously and literally.
Liasson compared the uncertainty over White with Trump’s statements that the war with Iran was over, that the United States had obliterated the Iranian nuclear program and that there was a ceasefire in Ukraine. Liasson said none of those things was true. She added that if people cannot take the president’s statements at face value, that can be a problem, though the press-secretary question might be less significant than his statements about war and diplomacy.