Democratic lawmakers decried Stephen Miller as a “ hatemonger ”, a “ xenophobe ” and “ vile ” after Donald Trump appointed his most trusted adviser as White House chief of staff.

On Friday afternoon, the US president abruptly announced via his Truth Social platform that Miller – the architect of his sweeping immigration crackdown – would replace Susie Wiles, whom he confirmed had been ousted.

The announcement came just days after voters overwhelmingly elected Democrats in the US midterm elections, a sharp rebuke of Trump’s agenda that ended his Republican party’s control of US Congress.

“For Trump to promote this hatemonger shows he has learned nothing,” Dick Durbin, a Democratic senator from Illinois, wrote on X .…