US President Donald Trump named Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff. This move signals a shift toward more aggressive foreign and domestic policies. Miller, a known loyalist, replaces Susie Wiles. Many fear this change means more conflict in West Asia, as Trump continues his hardline approach against Iran.
US President Donald Trump is doubling down on his hardline foreign policy. As predicted on the HT editorial page, the Trump White House is taking the midterm Republican defeat as a pretext to push through -- almost with a vengeance -- controversial policies at home and abroad, even as Democrats are set to resist him in both chambers of Congress. Elevating his deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller -- a senior adviser during his first administration -- to chief of staff signals that Trump is gearing up for accelerated friction both at home and in West Asia. A staunch supporter of Israel, Miller is unlikely to steer Trump toward peace with Iran. With the fresh spate of strikes on Iran and a reward of up to $20 million for information about Iran's nuclear programme, Trump is already on the warpath.
Miller, a Trump loyalist who stuck with the president during his 2020 defeat, is known for his bellicose views on not just Iran but also Venezuela and Greenland, and is credited with drafting the hardline Trump policy on immigration. Replacing Susie Wiles, who is leaving along with many other Trump administration officials after the Republican defeat in the midterm polls, with Miller gives a clear indication of the President's intent. And replacing Wiles, seen as a sobering influence on Trump, with a person who is an unquestioning loyalist and an orchestrator of some of the most problematic domestic policies of Trump's second stint -- including the brutal ICE raids and forcing reporters to reveal their sources -- indicates that the President has no plans to abandon the agenda the electorate has freshly rejected. Trump and other members of the administration have acknowledged that the Iran war led to their defeat. Yet, bringing Miller even closer in institutional terms demonstrates that Trump has no peace plans for West Asia.
Democrats are less than thrilled by Miller's elevation, but it allows them to renew their congressional attack on Trump. Miller has been a vocal advocate and implementer of the Trump administration's executive powers. Democrats will, as they should, subject his policies and actions, divisive as they are, to scrutiny through the House Oversight Committee. A chief of staff has the ear of the US president; it is, therefore, essential to check any influence that allows or encourages the latter to take actions which have lasting and even irreversible consequences for the country and the world.