President Donald Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller was replacing Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff , mere days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections. Miller, long a key member of Trump’s inner circle, is a key architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies. Wiles, a steely political operator and the first woman to serve in the post, was Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff and his
longtime adviser.
A handful of remaining Senate and House races, still to be called by The Associated Press, will determine the strength of Democrats’ majority in Congress. Democrats will hold at least 54 seats in the 100-member Senate next year, and as many as 56 depending on final results in Alaska and Mississippi — where contests remain narrow with votes still outstanding.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is likely to return as majority leader next year, promised in an interview with the AP that Democrats will prevent the Republican president from installing a “right-winger” on the Supreme Court or “crappy nominees” elsewhere in the federal judiciary or in Trump’s Cabinet.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to embark on his first post-midterm foreign trip to attend a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in France next week.
He’ll likely face questions about the Trump administration’s policies, namely in Iran, after huge Republican losses in elections that gave Democrats control of Congress.
The State Department said Friday that Rubio would travel to Paris to meet his counterparts from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan on Monday and Tuesday.
The G7 nations will confront a number of unresolved world crises, including the Iran and Russia-Ukraine wars. They must also cope with Trump’s often antagonistic approach to allies and concerns that the election results may harden his attitude.
Rubio is often seen as presenting a gentler side to Trump’s belligerence in foreign policy. He may get questions about speculation he might leave the administration to prepare for a 2028 presidential run, which he has adamantly denied.
President Donald Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller was replacing Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, mere days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections.
On his social media site, Trump praised Wiles and said she’d continue to work for his political organization.
Miller, long a key member of Trump’s inner circle, is a key architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies.
Wiles, the steely political operator and longtime adviser to Trump, was the first woman to ever serve in that post.
Wiles’ departure comes almost immediately after the GOP’s midterm thrashing on Tuesday. She will be replaced by Stephen Miller, a longtime trusted aide to Trump.
The departure also came months after Wiles indicated she no longer showed evidence of breast cancer after she underwent months of treatment for the disease, a diagnosis she went public with in March 2026.
Wiles is the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Trump, who cycled through four of them during his first four-year term.
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Democrats in Arizona won control of both legislative chambers and retained the governor’s office, giving the party its first trifecta in the state since 1966 as Democrats made major gains nationwide in this week’s elections and took control of both chambers of Congress.
In her first term, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs had vetoed more than 540 measures passed by the Republican-led Legislature on policies including taxes, immigration and voting laws. Hobbs has said she’s looking to address water issues and affordability, and take on fraud and abuse in the state’s school voucher program.
The Associated Press called enough legislative races to confirm that both chambers flipped on Friday. The news organization calls races individually and it can take several days after voting, depending on when election officials tally the votes and how close the elections are. There have not been major disputes or disruptions this year.
In Arizona, Republicans have held the House for 60 years and the Senate since the early 1990s.
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In a Truth Social post, Trump is praising “MAGA Warrior Joe Gruters” and says Gruters should continue to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
“As Chairman, Joe turned the RNC into an efficient, focused, and powerful machine that will continue to empower the America First Agenda for many years to come,” Trump writes, endorsing him for a second term.
“Joe Gruters should return as Chairman of the RNC to continue to build our Party, and be a trusted partner as we MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and ensure Free and Fair Elections,” he says.
“Joe is 100% America First, the Grassroots LOVES him, and I know he will do an incredible job in 2028, and secure Great Success for Republicans all across our Country. Joe has my Complete and Total Endorsement.”
Beijing confirmed for the first time that it’s discussing a possible meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said at a regular briefing that China “is in communication with relevant parties regarding a meeting between the three heads of state.”
The three-leader meeting would be historic if it happens during a regional economic summit this month in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. But experts say the trio may not agree on what to discuss when their interests are at odds.
Trump has said he wants to discuss nuclear arms control, while Putin is interested in discussing the war with Ukraine without Kyiv at the table.
If it happens, the meeting is certain to upset Europe, while China hopes to score a diplomatic win by facilitating the summit.
The minute-long trailer promoting the two-part series features Melania Trump in never-before-seen moments in her roles as wife, mother and first lady.
It will be available on Nov. 20. Amazon Prime Video also produced “Melania,” the documentary, which was in theaters in January.
The first lady said in a September interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that “Melania: The Series” is different from the documentary “because it’s more conversation, one on one with me.”
She said the docuseries will have some surprises, too.
“So when I was traveling and doing all of the filming, the director was asking me questions, and there are some private questions that I will answer that people never heard before. So it’s kind of exciting,” Melania Trump said.
The mayor of Houston on Friday said the city would limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, heralding “a new model” of immigration enforcement after Democrats swept statewide offices in Texas.
Mayor John Whitmire said the city would go after immigrants “that pose a danger, not those that are going about their family business, work and education.”
“Traffic incident will not even ... you write a citation or you warn them and they go about their way. No contact with (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) over nonviolent, non-jailable offenses. it reduces the fear and anxiety.”
Details of the change were to be spelled out in an executive order but the move by the nation’s fourth-largest city is one of the first steps to curb ICE’s powers since Tuesday’s election.
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Court documents Thursday showed that the Trump administration held secret talks with Iran to deport Iranians during the war.
In its first comments since the revelation, the Department of Homeland Security justified the ongoing contacts in a statement Friday, saying that it’s common practice for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to work with countries to get travel documents.
It said it follows all “established protocols” to allow people to meet with consular officials from their country.
“As promised, the Trump Administration is employing all lawful options to execute the largest deportation operation in history,” the department said.
The judge in a lawsuit challenging the deportations questioned how the U.S. could send people back to a country where they could face a “serious threat of certain death.”
DHS did not respond to a question about the potential danger the deportees might face.
Some of the protesters climbed a construction crane and set off flares while others clashed with police Friday at the Microsoft data center site in Amsterdam. More actions were planned in other countries after U.S. elections ushered in a wave of Democrats promising to clamp down on data centers.
“We don’t want it to be built. Nobody needs it,” Nathan Timmer of the Push Back group told local broadcaster AT5. “The only thing this will be used for is AI slop. AI warfare, data surveillance, and committing genocides. We don’t want that.”
A Microsoft spokesperson said “we understand that people feel strongly about the project, and we respect their right to express those views peacefully. However, we do not condone any actions that are unlawful or that put people’s safety at risk.”
The New Hampshire Republican, who fell short in his comeback bid for the Senate on Tuesday, blamed Trump’s failure to deliver on his “drain the swamp” promise for the catastrophic results.
“Now it seems like he or his family is in on every transaction and deal that goes on in Washington,” Sununu told former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, according to a transcript released by Kasich’s SiriumXM show.
That, along with Trump’s handling of the Iran war, “caused people to say, ‘You know, I just can’t vote for a Republican while he’s still in office,’” Sununu said.
Republican incumbent Jeff Hurd defeated Democrat Dwayne Romero Friday in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.
Hurd was first elected to the House in 2024, representing Colorado’s rural Western Slope. He was a lawyer before entering Congress. Democrats had targeted the Republican-leaning district as a potential pickup opportunity. Romero is a retired Army officer and former state economic development official. The Associated Press declared Hurd the winner at 11:24 a.m. EST.
Constantino defeated Democrat Blake Gendebien on Friday in New York’s 21st Congressional District,
Constantino took over his father’s printing business and later founded his own, Sticker Mule. He prominently advertises his support for Trump on one of the company’s buildings. He says he was recruited to run by Trump ally Roger Stone and touts a stint as a professional boxer. He’ll replace Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik. The Associated Press declared Constantino the winner at 11:23 a.m. EST.
The new website features a series of slick renderings showing the proposed 250-foot (76 meter) arch from multiple angles where Trump wants to build it between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
The White House highlighted the website the morning after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from breaking ground on the arch for 14 days.
The judge’s decision followed a vote to approve the arch by a federal planning commission stocked with the Republican president’s allies. Thursday’s 8-4 vote came after hours of public testimony in opposition to the arch.
A group of veterans joined the District of Columbia and Virginia as plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit seeking to block the arch.
The United States and nine of its allies are condemning Hong Kong’s 10-year prison sentence for democracy activist Joshua Wong, demanding an immediate end to “unjust prosecutions” under a strict Beijing-imposed National Security Law.
Wong was sentenced on Thursday by a Hong Kong court for colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security. The U.S. consulate’s condemnation of the punishment was joined Friday by the governments of Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
Their joint statement said the verdict and similar ones handed down recently show how the law “is being used to target individuals for political expression and participation,” and called for “an immediate end to all unjust prosecutions of individuals charged under the NSL.”
Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials have rejected the complaints.
The Democrats’ sizable Senate margin will hamper GOP efforts to regain ground in 2028, when Republicans will be defending Senate seats in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Iowa.
“Chance of confirming a worthy successor to Justice Thomas and/or Alito during President Trump’s term: Zero,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X after Tuesday’s elections. “Chance of confirming a worthy successor during a hypothetical GOP admin 2029-2033: probably zero (GOP won’t be able to recapture enough seats in 28).”
Even if a surprise Supreme Court vacancy emerges in the coming weeks, a lame-duck confirmation while Republicans still remain in power isn’t a sure thing, given that Trump encouraged the exits of GOP senators Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy and John Cornyn. Maine Sen. Susan Collins also attributed her defeat in part to Trump.
“President Trump will never let them pack the Supreme Court and ruin the independent judiciary,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said, saying some “extreme Democrats” have been “entertaining plans to pack the Court with liberal justices.”
The two oldest justices, Samuel Alito, 76, and Clarence Thomas, 78, have not publicly indicated an imminent retirement before Democratic majorities control the House and the Senate come January.
“I think the justices must know that if they were to retire now, at this moment, right before Democrats take the Senate, there would be an enormous amount of pressure unlike any we’ve seen to make serious change to the court,” said Dale Carpenter, a law professor at Southern Methodist University.
Alito has publicly mused about retirement in recent months, telling The Associated Press that he’s not sure “how long I’ll be able to continue to do this job.” But he’s also said he’ll stay through next summer. Thomas, meanwhile, would become the longest-serving justice in U.S. history in May 2028.
Trump has declined to say whether they should step down so he can nominate their successors.
Trump led Supreme Court transformation that ushered in a conservative supermajority, but he’ll soon confront an emboldened Democratic-led Senate ready to play hardball on his judicial nominations.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is likely to return as majority leader next year, promised in an interview with The Associated Press that Democrats will prevent the Republican president from installing a “right-winger” on the Supreme Court or “crappy nominees” elsewhere in the federal judiciary or in Trump’s Cabinet.
Democrats will hold at least 54 seats in the 100-member Senate next year, and as many as 56 depending on final results in Mississippi and Alaska, enough to block or ignore Trump’s nominations using the same kinds of aggressive tactics that Republicans wielded for years.
Schumer declined to specify whether he would hold any Supreme Court vacancy open until after the next presidential election, as former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell did to enable Trump to nominate the first of his three Supreme Court picks.
In an X post replying to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina is defending a House effort to impeach him.
“This is about you: the incompetence you’ve displayed, the bad advice you’ve given to president, and your shameful and embarassing episodes from firing our top generals to texting war plans to reporters,” Tillis wrote.
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who was defeated by a Trump-backed candidate in this year’s Republican primary, has introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth, citing his handling of the Iran war and other issues. Massie has said he will drop the effort if Hegseth resigns.
Tillis was replying to a video Hegseth posted defending himself. Hegseth said he has restored the Pentagon to its central purpose which is fighting wars, and “we don’t back down.”
The call between Trump and Qatar’s emir came as the Middle East remains on edge over the possibility of renewed U.S. military action against Iran.
Trump’s discussion with Emir Sheik Tamim bin Hamad al Thani centered on international efforts to end tensions, according to a statement Friday from the Qatari ruler’s media office that cited Qatar’s mediation efforts aimed at reaching “a comprehensive agreement that ends the crisis and achieves security and stability in the region.”
Sheik Tamim “stressed the importance of continuing dialogue and adopting diplomatic means to resolve disputes, sparing the region further escalation, and ensuring freedom of maritime navigation and the security of energy supplies,” according to the statement.
Qatar and other U.S.-allied Gulf Arab countries came under heavy fire by Iran and have been anxious to avoid a new escalation that could leave them vulnerable to attacks.
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Trump’s top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, said in an interview on CNBC that even if the construction of data centers slows, the United States can “still have a blockbuster economy.”
Stock markets plunged Thursday in response to the Democrats’ sweeping election victories, fueled partly by anti-data center sentiment. But Hassett praised Friday’s jobs report showing an unexpected boost in hiring and a small dip in the unemployment rate.
“The data right now are singing a beautiful song and I expect the momentum on that to continue,” he said.
Yet the jobs report also showed that hourly wage gains trailed annual inflation for the seventh straight month, a key indicator that most households are seeing rising prices erode their spending power.
