At 6:03 this evening, Donald Trump walked out from behind the stage, clapping for himself after being announced to the small audience gathered at the Kennedy Space Center. As he made his way to the podium, he stopped, refusing to move any further until his entire hype song, “God Bless the USA” was finished blasting from the speakers. His entire time on the stage lasted just 27 minutes, and every second of it was a disaster. He said things like how he would be happier if the country lost money instead of making it: “Despite the $3 trillion lost yesterday… If we would have gained three trillion, I probably would have been more unhappy.”
He told his captive audience that America invented “almost every other thing that’s worth mentioning,” after naming off the telephone, television, internet, GPS, and the smartphone, apparently forgetting, in ways that only Donald Trump could, that scientists and engineers from around the world contributed to the development of nearly every single one of those inventions.
He claimed there would be “no Israel” and “no Middle East” without his military intervention in Iran. At one point, he interrupted a ceremony honoring astronauts to call over Secretary of State Marco Rubio, insisting he must be related to astronaut Frank Rubio because they share the same last name. “Somewhere along the line you’re somewhere along the line, you’re related. Two good-looking guys. I don’t know. Somewhere deep down from hundreds of years ago. I think you’re related.” He even instructed him to “Shake his hand just in case.”
He even made a point of reminding everyone in the audience that just because his party had suffered a catastrophic defeat in the midterm election, that didn’t mean he was a loser, too. “By the way, I was not on the ballot, just in case you had any question. Because if we were on the ballot, we would have won.”
He ended his time on stage by announcing that there would be a “very special presentation,” which turned out to be just him being presented with a plaque that will be installed on a runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. He acknowledged the tribute, shook a few hands, looked out at the people seated in front of him, mouthed “thank you,” then turned around and walked away.
Donald Trump’s performance on stage today was just a distraction from the real danger we are in, because the next shot in the next battle for America was fired much earlier in the day, in the form of a single post he made on Truth Social. In it, the President of the United States announced that he was replacing his Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, the first woman in American history to ever hold the position, and handing this enormously powerful role over to Stephen Miller. “I am pleased to announce that Mr. Stephen Miller, the current Deputy Chief of Staff of the Trump Administration, and one of my most trusted advisors, will become the Chief of Staff starting Monday, November 9, 2026,” Trump wrote. And just like that, the man behind the Muslim ban, the architect of ICE raids and family separation, the person who called ripping children from their mothers “a simple decision,” and the very man whose own leaked emails revealed he had been sharing white nationalist literature with editors to shape news coverage, will now hold the most powerful staff position in the White House, serving as the gatekeeper to the President of the United States.
The reason this appointment is so dangerous is because of the enormous amount of responsibility and power that comes with the position of White House Chief of Staff, and what that person actually does. Often, the Chief of Staff controls who gets to speak to the president and who is even allowed to walk into the Oval Office. They decide what information reaches the president, too. They help oversee what the president’s administration is doing, making sure government departments and agencies are carrying out his policies, no matter how terrible they are. That means that every briefing and decision that lands on the Resolute Desk most of the time passes through the Chief of Staff first, which means that Stephen Miller is no longer just the man running Trump’s deportation machine. He is now the person who controls what the president is shown when making decisions, who the president talks to, and what options the president is given on everything from Iran to the economy, to the courts, the press, and beyond.
CNN reported that Miller’s influence had already expanded well beyond immigration into larger domestic policy and executive authority. This change makes what has been happening behind the scenes for nearly two years now official in more ways than one, but it also removes whatever guardrails Susie Wiles might have provided to stop his most extreme and dangerous plans. This means that Stephen Miller is no longer just advising the President of the United States. He is, in all reality, running the presidency.
Susie Wiles, the outgoing Chief of Staff, posted her farewell message on X. “Today is my last day as White House Chief of Staff,” she wrote. “Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime. I’m so proud to have been a part of what we’ve accomplished together from securing our border and cutting taxes to strengthening our economy and putting America First.” She said she was grateful for the people she had the privilege of working alongside, and that while her role may be changing, “my commitment to the President and the mission never will.”
The White House also released a statement essentially welcoming Stephen Miller, whom it describes as someone who brings “deep experience” and “broad institutional knowledge.” They also included dozens of endorsements for him from cabinet members, members of Congress, and outside groups. They called him a “fighter” and a “warrior.” Some even described the appointment as a “wartime” choice, which tells us quite a bit about how they see the next two years and what they are preparing for. We can only assume that they mean potentially both domestically and internationally. Miller himself said the mission is to “fight with all of our soul to support our President and defend this magnificent Republic.”
Of course, the Democrats also had a lot to say about this appointment. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Miller “a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands,” and said “his presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant tumor. Fire him today.” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wrote, “Donald Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat. Stephen Miller is the architect of the most barbaric, inhumane policies of this administration. Trump couldn’t have made a worse choice. Our Democratic majorities will fight him every step of the way.” Representative Robert Garcia, who will become chairman of the House Oversight Committee, had the shortest and sharpest response of all. He said Stephen Miller “should lawyer up.”
Stephen Miller will officially take over the role on Monday, November 9, a very symbolic day. There is no way to know if this went into the decision or not, but it is a date that carries enormous weight in history. It is the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, when the Nazi regime unleashed coordinated violence against Jewish communities across Germany and Austria, destroying synagogues, shattering storefronts, and murdering nearly one hundred people in a single night. That was the moment, November 9, 1938, when the world was shown what was coming. November 9 is also the date of the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, Hitler’s first failed attempt to seize power, and the date the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. In German history, November 9 is called Schicksalstag. The Day of Fate. Germany chose not to make it their national holiday because the date carried so much darkness. Stephen Miller, a descendant of Holocaust victims and a recognized extremist, takes the most powerful staff position in the White House on November 9, 2026. The Day of Fate.
The irony of what is happening is especially disturbing when you consider the history of some of the world’s most evil regimes and then look at everything Stephen Miller has done. He has taken many of their worst tactics and used them to create his own playbook. He is often compared to Joseph Goebbels, who was Hitler’s most loyal follower, who found personal meaning through his fanatical devotion to Hitler, who created dangerous propaganda, dehumanized entire groups of people, and was rewarded for his extremism. When the Nazi regime faced pressure, Goebbels was given more power, not less. The same pattern is happening with Stephen Miller. He is the truest of true believers.
But not everybody inside this administration appears to be in it for the long haul the way Stephen Miller is. While Miller is being rewarded with even more power, other senior officials are heading for the exits. In the three days since the midterm elections, three senior officials have resigned from the Justice Department, and these were not low-level officials. They were some of the people entrusted with enormous power over the lives and rights of the American people. Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Civil Rights Division, was the first to go, walking away from a position where she had spent much of her time weakening the very protections for Americans’ civil rights that she was supposed to be defending. Then came Jason Reding Quiñones, the federal prosecutor whose office was overseeing Trump’s investigations into his political enemies, including the so-called “grand conspiracy” investigation, which was an attempt to prove that Trump’s political opponents had spent years working together to illegally target him. There was also John Eisenberg, the head of the National Security Division, the office responsible for investigating threats to our country, including terrorism, spying, and other national security matters. With the incoming Congress preparing to investigate the Trump administration after nearly two years of very little resistance from Congress, we will most likely see even more officials heading for the exits. There is also talk that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is considering resigning to focus on a potential 2028 presidential campaign.
None of this is entirely unexpected. This is what authoritarianism looks like and how it takes deeper root. There is the charismatic leader standing at the podium, and then there is the evil sidekick working behind the scenes. Stephen Miller is no exception. His personality flaws are so painfully obvious, and his ugliness just spews out of him. So he does what men like him have always done throughout history. He attaches himself to someone more charismatic. He becomes the voice whispering in the leader’s ear, telling him how to carry out his worst impulses, taking every dark thought the leader already has and turning it into an executive order, making everything the leader was already thinking even worse. The terrifying part is that no one elected Stephen Miller and no one can vote him out of office.
This is why the leaders we choose for the new Congress matter more than they have ever mattered before. We cannot afford leaders who will play nice, seek bipartisanship with this administration, and sweep the crimes of the last two years under the rug for the sake of moving forward. We have tried that too many times before, and it never works out well in the end. After January 6, when a mob stormed the Capitol and tried to overturn a presidential election, the country had a chance to hold Donald Trump accountable and failed at every turn. We need leaders from both chambers of Congress who are relentless, who understand that the rules the old Congress played by are the same rules that got us here, and who are willing to match the intensity that the other side has brought every single day. Because we have watched their side operate like bulldogs, out for blood in every way possible. It is time for ours to do the same.
This week was full of ups and downs. We had a historic election that will finally return checks and balances to our government, at least in some meaningful ways. Then today, we were hit with the news of this new change in the White House. As bad as this is, and acknowledging that this will create great challenges over the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency, we do have a very significant advantage now. Stephen Miller is extremely incompetent, especially in comparison to Susie Wiles. For Susie, it also wasn’t about her ego. She stayed out of the spotlight for the most part, and Stephen Miller loves the spotlight. Both of these are going to be some of his biggest weaknesses and our greatest advantages. He may have been handed the keys to the White House, but unlike Susie Wiles, he is going to have a much harder time ahead of him now that there will finally be a Congress with the power to investigate him, expose what he is doing, and hold this entire administration accountable. That is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather
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This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.
Picture of the day: I’m trying to do as much of my Christmas shopping as I possibly can now because I often find myself glued to the computer trying to make sense of whatever Trump and his enablers are doing. I never know what the day will bring, and I don’t want to be scrambling at the last minute. I’m also trying to be more intentional about where I spend my money this year, partly because there is so much economic uncertainty, but also because I’m jumping back into my economic protest in an even more detailed way. When I saw this body scrub being sold as part of a cause where 75% of the purchase price goes toward supporting immigrants and immigrant rights, I knew it would also make a perfect gift for one of my nieces.
It’s time-consuming, and it’s not perfect. I don’t align 100% with every company on everything they do, but I’m still trying to be much more thoughtful about where my money goes. I’m making sure some of it goes toward fellow content creators and writers who are putting in the effort every single day to make sure information continues to reach people, and I’m supporting them through paid memberships as gifts for people on my lists as well. I’m also focusing on spending my money with companies like this one that align with my values and aren’t intentionally trying to destroy our country or support this corrupt administration. With the holidays coming up, there are even more opportunities to make those choices with our purchases. It takes a little more time, but I think it’s worth knowing who and what my money is supporting.
Links to sources used in writing this article:
President Trump Delivers Remarks, Nov. 6, 2026: YouTube Video
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephen-miller-trump-chief-of-staff-susie-wiles/
https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/06/politics/stephen-miller-trump-susie-wiles
https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/06/politics/jason-reding-quinones-resigns-doj-grand-conspiracy-florida
https://www.npr.org/2026/11/05/g-s1-152080/head-of-justice-department-office-on-civil-rights-resigns
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2026/11/05/rubio-considering-resigning-report-says/
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/stephen-miller
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/joseph-goebbels-1
As a raging malevolent narcissist, trump sees no other alternative than to double down on his war with the entire population. And who better to assist and direct him in this suicidal pact than the soulless Miller. This will not end well, obviously. Let's hope the new congress is up to the task. New leadership is needed now, more than ever. No more bipartisanship nonsense, this is pedal to the metal time.
Thanks Heather as always for your insightful reporting - it was nice to have at least a couple days of feeling a bit lighter - like the field of play was shifting and we might find our way out of the upside down.
I sincerely hope that the Democrat leadership reads this post because you are spot on - playing “nice” and being accommodating just won’t work.
It seems pretty clear that Trump is fortifying himself and his administration by taking the offense as his next form of defense.
Your assessment of past efforts is exactly right - it’s time for a totally new and creative approach that not only slows the damage but comes with real accountability and consequences.
It may be the last chance for our country.