Miller calls chief of staff promotion ‘honor of my life’ at Mar-a-Lago event

Longtime White House aide Stephen Miller pledged his “absolute loyalty” to President Trump in short remarks Friday evening shortly after being promoted to chief of staff — replacing Susie Wiles

“We need to stand with the man who has stood with us with every fiber of his being,” Miller said in a video Trump posted to Truth Social . “I pledge you, Mr. President, my absolute loyalty, my unwavering commitment and my total devotion to your success and the success of this country.”

Giving quick remarks at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., Miller called the promotion “the honor of my life.”

Trump announced Friday morning that Wiles, who had served as chief of staff since he returned to office, had stepped down and Miller would replace her.

The choice quickly sparked backlash from Democrats and some Republicans, who said the president learned the wrong lesson from sweeping midterm losses.

“Donald Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote in a post on the social platform X. “Stephen Miller is the architect of the most barbaric, inhumane policies of this administration. Trump couldn’t have made a worse choice.”

Miller was the architect behind much of the president’s hardline immigration policies, including mass deportation efforts in his second term. Democrats have slammed Miller for his rhetoric in the past, namely after he called the two American citizens killed during federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis “domestic terrorists.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Friday the president should “rethink” his decision to elevate Miller, calling it a “colossal mistake” after the party’s midterm losses.

“This past Tuesday, Republicans lost because we lost the narrative on the border, a success that the president should have been heralding,” Tillis said. “Now we’re talking about putting one of the most partisan, polarizing figures, and not only polarizing in terms of Republicans and Democrats, but even among Republicans.”

Trump’s cabinet secretaries broadly praised the switch, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared a photo of himself and Miller with the caption , “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic.”

Millers’s chief of staff appointment brings Hegseth even closer to the White House as the Pentagon chief faces growing backlash for his leadership and handling of the Iran war. House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) admitted , “There’s a lot of questions about Hegseth” as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) renews his push to impeach the defense secretary.

But Miller seemed to sing the praises of the second Trump administration’s defense agenda Friday night, saying, “If it wasn’t for President Trump, the United States of America would not exist right now. This man saved America. He saved our military from collapse. He saved our economy from destruction. He saved our boarder from annihilation. And he saved our country from threats from home and abroad.”