President Donald Trump declared war on the midterm elections Friday when he announced one of the most controversial members of his staff to replace outgoing Susie Wiles, political analysts said Friday.
Trump's sudden appointment of Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff sent alarm bells blaring for D.C. insiders who warned on MS NOW that the president is gearing up for battle.
"This is a version of the White House going to war with the midterms?" host Katy Tur asked panelist Kevin Baron.
"Yeah," Baron replied. "Trump could have gone one direction, he could have listened to what just happened and said, 'Okay, we're going to find a way to work with the Democrats'...This is the absolute opposite of that."
Baron, executive editor of Defense One, contextualized Miller's appointment with messaging from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth only the day before.
Hegseth's "defiant" message to Americans was that, as rumors spread he was on the outs, the beleaguered defense secretary would ready himself for war with Democrats, Baron argued.
"This kind of goes right along with it," Baron said. "Stephen Miller's language has always been the most extreme, the most bombastic, the most kind of absolutist when it comes to things like border security...These are extreme views. This is not a reconciliation attempt with the Democrats."
MS NOW panelist Scott MacFarlane agreed Miller's appointment was in direct response to an Election Day that saw a blue wave crash down on the nation and sweep away Republican control of the House and Senate.
As proof, MacFarlane pointed to House Oversight Committee Democrats' message to Trump on election night telling him to "lawyer up."
"This seems to be a symmetrical political response that they're going to be defiant of Congress," MacFarlane said.
Democrats have already begun planning means to combat Miller's mass deportation program and defund the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who had been "running through American cities" in masks, MacFarlane noted.
"This move is only going to add urgency or add this to the top of the priority," said MacFarlane.
Chief White House reporter Paula Reid noted senior administration officials spent the weeks leading up to the midterm election focused on Wiles rather than eking out the last possible votes in Michigan and Texas.
While no one said definitively that Wiles would be out — it was in the air, Reid said. And people were worried.
"The concern...was that Stephen Miller would become chief of staff, and their concern is what happens inside the White House," Reid said. "Stephen Miller has been at odds with some lawyers in the administration who have rejected some of his ideas because they were, in some cases, blatant violations of law...there are a lot of concerns about what this means."
Trump described Miller as "one of my most trusted advisors" in his Truth Social announcement of his former deputy chief of staff's promotion.
Miller will begin work on his new role Monday.