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Trump replacing Wiles with Stephen Miller isn’t just about going to war with Democrats, insiders say

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Cite

Feinberg, A. (2026, November 6). Trump replacing Wiles with Stephen Miller isn’t just about going to war with Democrats, insiders say. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-stephen-miller-lame-duck-gop-b3080813.html

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The Independent · collected 2026-11-06 · by Andrew Feinberg

Quick Summary

President Donald Trump replaced Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller as White House Chief of Staff shortly after endorsing Joe Gruters for another term as RNC chair via Truth Social. This move is seen by some Democrats, including Rep. Robert Garcia and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, as a defiant stance against the incoming Democratic Congress and an escalation of Trump's hardline policies on immigration despite significant Republican electoral losses in recent midterms. However, insiders suggest that this appointment reflects Trump’s political weakness rather than strategic brilliance, indicating his struggle to maintain control over his diminishing coalition ahead of his last term.
Written by AI on 2026-11-09, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

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The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence high 1 quote(s) discarded as not found in the article
Leaning: leans left for article 135739 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-11-09

Story

Stephen Miller As White House Chief Of Staff
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19
sentences that state something as happening or true
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0 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
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The Independent · 3964 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
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Who wrote this

Andrew Feinberg
38 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Schumer also said Trump “couldn’t have made a worse choice” and vowed to “fight him every step of the way.” But Republicans on the inside aren’t so sure that Trump’s choice of Miller is the stuff of three-dimensional chess or some sort of grand strategy.
Stephen Miller, the architect of Donald Trump’s hardline anti-immigrant policies, will replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff in the wake of midterm elections that saw Republicans lose control of the House and Senate as well as dozens of governorships and state legislatures.
Standing in the cavernous space where once the East Wing of the White House stood — before he unilaterally and, according to a court ruling, illegally had it torn down — he told reporters to "envision chandeliers" and "envision marble flooring" that will one day be there. "This will be the most beautiful building," Trump promised.
Marco Rubio is on resignation watch from both sides of the Atlantic in the expectation he will quit to launch a bid to be the next US president, The Independent can reveal.
He talked about the “glass tube” that will connect the White House’s East Room to the ballroom itself when the entire structure is finished.
Since returning to the White House last year, Donald Trump has never passed up a chance to brag about how he’s done things no other president has done or ever could do.
Watch as The Independent’s White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg explains why Donald Trump has only himself to blame for a brutal midterm election night Democrats are projected to take back control of both the House and the Senate after a series of major wins dubbed a “Blue Tsunami”.
His appearance at the Lincoln Memorial capped a month of campaigning that saw him deliver his signature MAGA rallies to smaller, less enthusiastic crowds in reliably Republican states where his party’s candidates are nonetheless in danger of losing to Democratic opponents — an outcome that would have been unthinkable a month ago.
Trump has baselessly suggested that Alaska voters are so ignorant that they would not know the meaning of the word “incumbent” and the presence of the second Sullivan on the ballot led Trump to push for legal action over concerns that votes intended for the incumbent would be siphoned away.
With days to go until what polls indicate will be a brutal midterm election for President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, the man who has implored MAGA voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot” is starting to panic.
Also by Andrew Feinberg
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 38 articles by Andrew Feinberg →

Topics

America American Democrats RNC Senate

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 8× Miller PERSON · 6× American NORP · 3× Democrats NORP · 3× GOP ORG · 3× Senate ORG · 3× America GPE · 2× Gruters PERSON · 2× RNC ORG · 2× Donald Trump PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Instead, multiple GOP sources told The Independent that the move is a sign of the president’s weakness in the face of his administration being humiliatingly rejected by the American electorate — and a desperation play to keep control of the remainder of his now-shattered political coalition. That’s because Trump must now confront a problem that has beguiled every second-term chief executive since Dwight Eisenhower entered office with the 22nd Amendment’s two-term limit imposed on him.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-09
Schumer also said Trump “couldn’t have made a worse choice” and vowed to “fight him every step of the way.” But Republicans on the inside aren’t so sure that Trump’s choice of Miller is the stuff of three-dimensional chess or some sort of grand strategy.

Claims (19 extracted, 0 hedged)

An hour before President Donald Trump announced the ouster of his longest-serving White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, in favor of longtime loyalist Stephen Miller, he posted to Truth Social an endorsement of Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters in the upcoming race to remain as the head of the RNC for the next two years. asserted
he → announce → years
He said Gruters, the former Florida Republican Party boss who presided over what Governor Ron DeSantis called an “extension level event” as Democrats took both the House and Senate plus countless governors’ mansions and state legislatures, “should return as Chairman of the RNC to continue to build our Party, and be a trusted partner as we MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” asserted
AMERICA → say → Party
The president’s understated endorsement of the man who, along with him, had overseen an electoral wipeout of historic proportion was overshadowed roughly 60 minutes later by his decision to promote Miller, a former Senate communications staffer whose career has been almost single-mindedly focused on reducing non-white immigration to America, to the role once held by legendary operators like James Baker, Leon Panetta, Dick Cheney and Ron Klain. asserted
career → oversee → Baker
It was a move seemingly designed to telegraph his intention to learn absolutely nothing from the epic ballot-box blowout he and his party had just suffered and to telegraph nothing except defiance in the face of an incoming Democratic Congress determined to reassert the legislative branch’s status as primus inter pares among the three branches of American government. asserted
he → design → government
That’s the view taken by some prominent Democrats, including California Rep. Robert Garcia, the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee. asserted
That → ’ → Committee
Garcia said in a statement that Miller’s appointment means Trump is “doubling down” on the hardline policies voters have now roundly rejected and noted that Miller has been the “architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families.” asserted
that → say → citizens
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed a similar sentiment, writing on X that Trump has “learned nothing from his historic defeat.” asserted
Trump → income → defeat
Schumer also said Trump “couldn’t have made a worse choice” and vowed to “fight him every step of the way.” But Republicans on the inside aren’t so sure that Trump’s choice of Miller is the stuff of three-dimensional chess or some sort of grand strategy. asserted
choice → say → strategy
Instead, multiple GOP sources told The Independent that the move is a sign of the president’s weakness in the face of his administration being humiliatingly rejected by the American electorate — and a desperation play to keep control of the remainder of his now-shattered political coalition. That’s because Trump must now confront a problem that has beguiled every second-term chief executive since Dwight Eisenhower entered office with the 22nd Amendment’s two-term limit imposed on him. asserted
Eisenhower → tell → him
America’s two-year election cycles mean a president in his last term will start to lose relevance as soon as the midterm elections are done because jockeying will inevitably begin for the next presidential primary cycle and the start of the race to succeed him. asserted
jockeying → mean → him
That’s not something Trump can handle, and insiders suggest his recent moves are meant to keep himself at the center of the GOP universe even at a time when a healthy political party would be making preparations to hand off their standard to the next man. asserted
party → ’ → man
One veteran operative said in a text message that the double-barreled announcements regarding Gruters and Miller show Trump “doubling down” on keeping the iron grip he has had over the GOP for the last near-decade. asserted
he → say → decade
“I think it’s about projecting control,” said the operative, who added that it appeared that Trump’s aim was to “hold whatever remains of the base” with performative trolling and MAGA crowd-pleasing stunts against immigrants and Democrats with Miller at the helm of the administration. asserted
whatever → think → administration
“This isn’t about the future of the party — it’s about holding 20 percent of the party hostage,” they said. asserted
they → ’ → party
Another Republican strategist with significant ties to the MAGA universe declined to offer their own comments but pointed The Independent to a post on X by National Review writer Dan McLaughlin, who slammed Miller as “profoundly foolish & out of touch with political reality” and opined that Miller is the sort of person “you put in charge of a bunker.” asserted
you → decline → bunker
People who have worked with Miller have described him as single-minded in his desire to rid America of as many non-white immigrants as possible dating back to his days as a high school-age caller into conservative radio shows from his parents’ California home. asserted
who → work → home
One oft-circulated story from his younger days noted that he became a pariah at his high school because he would throw trash on the floor and complain about having to use a garbage can because the school employed janitors who should have been picking up the trash that had been tossed carelessly. asserted
that → circulate → trash
One longtime Senate and White House staffer who knew Miller when he was a top aide to Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions predicted absolute disaster, citing what he called Miller’s “utter lack of people skills” and perchance for “bullying.” asserted
he → know → bullying
“If you want a chief of staff who will inspire zero loyalty and do nothing but bring about bad outcomes by overreaching on a daily basis, I couldn’t think of a better person,” they said. asserted
they → want → person
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