Katie Miller lobbied Trump allies before Stephen Miller’s appointment as WH chief of staff
WASHINGTON, DC: Katie Miller spent weeks working the phones, calling at least half a dozen people close to Donald Trump to push for her husband, Stephen Miller, to get the job of White House chief of staff. After Republicans fell short in the 2026 midterms and Trump started thinking about moving on from Susie Wiles, Katie doubled down on her campaign.
Sources told POLITICO she reached out to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and several of JD Vance’s allies. She urged them to tell Trump that Stephen outshined the other contenders, pressing them to deliver her message directly.
Katie Miller reached out to Trump allies to promote her husband
Katie Miller told people to call the president on her husband's behalf if they believed that he was better than other potential successors to Wiles, according to two people with direct knowledge of her role, who, like others in this story, spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to the report, Katie Miller told people that if Wiles were to leave the position, Stephen should replace her. “I would appreciate if you could share that message,” she reportedly said during one of the conversations, according to a person with direct knowledge of her role.
Katie Miller started lobbying as early as October, right after she got calls from people in the White House and Trump allies who were talking about Wiles possibly stepping down. During those talks, she pushed them to back Stephen as the next choice, the report says.
After the midterms, Miller ramped up her efforts. People familiar with what she was doing say she never actually called for Wiles to be ousted. Instead, she only made her latest round of calls this week, once it was obvious Trump was ready to name a new chief of staff.
Miller wouldn’t comment on the report. Bessent didn’t reply to a request for comment, and the White House didn’t respond right away, either.
Trump considers several candidates after midterm defeat
Over the past month, Trump privately tossed around several names as possible replacements for Wiles. Stephen Miller was one of them. He also mentioned Bill Pulte, who directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, New York Yankees president Randy Levine, along with Lee Zeldin and Sergio Gor.
One White House adviser admitted that the idea of Pulte taking over rattled quite a few people inside the administration. Efforts to reach Pulte for comment went nowhere.
People had already been speculating about Wiles' future, even while the White House kept denying that Trump wanted her out. Back in October, POLITICO Playbook reported Trump was calling up friends and allies, asking them what they thought of the names he was floating as possible successors.
The people familiar with Katie Miller’s outreach said she never advocated for ousting Wiles, and her latest round of calls this week came only after it was clear Trump was ready for a new chief of staff.
“He started telling people he was done with Susie,” after the election, the person with direct knowledge said. “This is what happens when you get creamed.”
The White House said that Miller is a natural choice to be chief of staff.
Some White House officials grew frustrated with Wiles during the midterm campaign. The Republican losses on election night only made things worse for her. In the days following the election, Trump called several allies and vented about his senior advisers, Wiles among them, along with people in her orbit, according to two sources familiar with those conversations.
Wiles had just finished chemotherapy for breast cancer, and people close to her say leaving after the midterms was already on her mind. She loved the work, but the constant demands on her personal life wore her down, one source explained.
