Former staffer says Trump’s new chief of staff is not popular among his colleagues.
A former aide to President Donald Trump revealed that White House staffers believed his new chief of staff had a screw loose.
Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary in the first Trump administration, told MS NOW on Monday that White House staffers probably think Stephen Miller is a poor choice to lead the second half of Trump 2.0.
“I think people have a close relationship with Stephen Miller within the Trump world out of necessity and not by choice,” Matthews, 31, told the network’s Alicia Menendez.
The former White House deputy press secretary said staffers weren’t very keen on Trump’s new COS.
She continued. “Not because they like Stephen Miller and necessarily value his friendship, but because they know he is one of the president’s longest-serving aides. He has the president’s ear and has a lot of power and influence.”
“And obviously that power and influence has only grown now that he’s been named White House chief of staff. So Cabinet officials and White House staff are keeping Stephen Miller close,” she added. “But I think, privately, a lot of people think this guy is cuckoo.”
Miller was promoted to top Trump aide after Susie Wiles resigned following last week’s GOP midterm disaster.
Matthews said staffers likely view Miller as a “white nationalist” who “brings out Trump’s worst instincts,” as evidenced by his leadership on the administration’s unpopular immigration agenda.
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“Look at the effect this had on Trump’s midterms just now: we went from Trump winning the support of Latino voters in 2024, and Stephen Miller’s cruel and inhumane mass deportations completely blew up that coalition,” she explained. “So I think a lot of Republicans recognize that Stephen Miller does more harm than he helps, even though they want stronger immigration enforcement and border security.”
Miller is widely considered the architect behind the administration’s hard line on immigration that culminated in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in January.
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“They know he’s not the guy who should be in charge because he goes too far and he’s too extreme,” Matthews added.
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told The Daily Beast in a statement: “Sarah Mathews is a disgruntled former low-level staffer with Trump Derangement Syndrome. Stephen Miller has been a key player in implementing President Trump’s America First agenda since day one. He has led the administration’s crackdown on crime, including in Washington DC and Memphis, record deregulation, unleashed American energy, dismantled drug cartels and secured our border, in his new role, he will continue to deliver on his promises of historic successes for the American people.
Reports say Trump was furious with Wiles after the GOP midterm takedown on Tuesday.
Daniel Torok/The White House via Reuters
Trump, 80, announced Friday that Miller, 41, would take over as chief of staff after Susie Wiles resigned. The veteran aide resigned Thursday after Democrats won the midterm elections and secured the House and Senate.
Six members of the president’s staff have left the administration since last week, including Wiles, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, Harmeet Dhillon, and Richard Walters, a deputy chief of staff who resigned after Miller’s promotion.
Trump’s promotion of his most controversial aide did not sit well with many Americans, including Republican members of Congress.
Indiana Rep. Marlin Stutzman told Fox News on Saturday that choosing Trump was a “horrible decision,” while North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told CNN that Miller was “the worst of all possible choices” for the job.
“This is a colossal mistake, and the last thing we need 72 hours after the… booing we received on Tuesday,” the senator added.
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