Trump goes full Trump with his new chief of staff pick
By Zachary B. Wolf ·
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On Tuesday, Republicans lost Texas in a blue wave driven in part by the defection of Latino voters over President Donald Trump’s heavy-handed mass deportation strategy.
On Friday, the architect of that strategy, Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s longest-serving and most controversial aides, got a promotion to White House chief of staff.
It’s hard not to look at those two facts and wonder what lesson Trump and his White House are taking from one of the largest electoral waves in US history.
Trump also bookended the midterms with events showcasing his Reflecting Pool renovations, his White House ballroom project and plans for his triumphal arch, which speaks to his tin ear on the current mood of voters who seem to think their elected officials are out of touch.
The voters sent moderates to Congress, but the president is elevating his most hard-line aide to whisper in his ear, guard his time and execute his will.
Trump has made a career of following his gut and zagging when conventional wisdom and data told him to zig.
In the case of elevating Miller, the data is the loss of Texas, Republicans’ firewall in national elections.
And one big reason Republicans lost in Texas is Latinos.
In 2024, Trump won Latino voters in Texas, according to CNN’s exit polls. In 2026, according to CNN Voter Polls, Latinos went 65% to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who was challenging Trump ally Gov. Greg Abbott.
What drove that reversal? How about the fact that around two-thirds of Latino voters said the Trump administration’s immigration actions had gone too far — and those who felt that way split nearly 9 to 1 in favor of the Democrats?
So elevating the architect of the administration’s immigration enforcement actions as chief of staff is a curious choice politically, to say the least.
But while Trump has talked about making nice with Democrats to get things done, that would be contrary to his governing style so far.
Elevating Miller, on the other hand, feels like Trump preparing for war in the form of congressional oversight. Outgoing chief of staff Susie Wiles, the first woman in US history to hold the job, had the profile of a gatekeeper who shied away from the media and guarded access to Trump.
Miller has the profile of a consigliere who guards Trump’s power. If the job of the chief of staff is to impose order at the White House, it will be interesting to see how things change under a man with a reputation as a street fighter.
Democrats are on the rise, about to be running Capitol Hill with large majorities, subpoena power and a righteous indignation at the shock and awe Trump inflicted on the government in the early days of his second term. If the president anticipates the Oval Office being like a bunker, having Miller as his right hand makes total sense.
Miller is known for combative interviews in which he steamrolls over questioners with a maximalist view of Trump’s power and an uncompromising praise of Trump’s abilities. The most controversial ideas to test the US Constitution can frequently be traced back to Miller.
Miller, of course, has been in charge of Trump’s domestic policy, but he has long had a portfolio that expands well beyond immigration at the White House. He has spoken for Trump on economic, foreign and military policy.
When Signal chats among Cabinet secretaries, national security officials and Vice President JD Vance were accidentally leaked early in Trump’s second term, Miller was the one who seemed to be speaking for Trump.
Normally one to linger with reporters, Trump was terse on Friday while he stood under an umbrella before getting on Marine One.
“He gets it,” Trump said of Miller. “Very good politically… great manager,” he added.
Scott Jennings, a conservative and senior political commentator for CNN, said on “The Arena with Kasie Hunt” that nobody should confuse Miller’s ascent with a shift in Trump’s priorities.
“We talk about these people sometimes as though they’re independent operators and that they have license to do whatever they want,” Jennings said. “They don’t. They’re staff. They work for the president of the United States. He’s a hardliner on immigration.”
Wiles will move over to Trump’s political operation, said the president, who has a massive war chest of campaign coin. Since he is barred by the Constitution from seeking another term, it is through support of other candidates that Trump can continue to exert influence over Republicans after his time in the White House ends in January 2029.
The Trump administration has been here before. After federal immigration officers killed US citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good earlier this year, the firing of then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and the sidelining of Border Patrol official Greg Bovino were seen as corrective maneuvers by the administration. But Miller — who hovered over all of it — has remained entrenched.
A little more than a third of voters nationwide, 36%, said immigration was crucial to their vote. Republicans won the lion’s share of those voters. To the extent there is an issue still motivating Trump’s base, in other words, this is it. And he has never governed trying to impress or appease most of the country, but rather with that base in mind.
Stephen Miller is the natural choice to be his chief of staff.
Originally published by CNN
