President Trump is making changes to his inner circle that signal how he may approach divided government.
Transcript
ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
President Trump says he’s open to working with Democrats, but the staffing moves he’s been making indicate otherwise. After a crushing defeat in the midterms for his party, the president is replacing his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, with hard-liner Stephen Miller. He has described the Democratic Party as a, quote, “domestic extremist organization.” Joining us now to talk about this is White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, who is traveling with the president in Palm Beach, Florida. Hey, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hey, Rob.
SCHMITZ: So I want to ask you more about Stephen Miller, but let’s first turn to Susie Wiles. How big of a deal is her departure?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, it’s a very big deal, and it really is all wrapped together. Susie Wiles, you know, led Trump’s campaign. She led his return to the White House. And she really is a historymaker, I mean, the first female White House chief of staff. And perhaps, more importantly, you know, she was really considered a stabilizing force in the administration. She brought discipline to a place, you know, that really has a lot of competing personalities.
SCHMITZ: So what kind of White House do you expect under Stephen Miller?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, Stephen Miller is one of the most uncompromising political ideologues pressing for Trump’s agenda. He is the architect of some of Trump’s most controversial policies, including border policies and the mass deportation raids that led to a significant level of political backlash. Miller is also very loyal, which is something Trump prizes. It means a lot to him, especially when he’s under pressure like he is right now. And I’ll just note – here is Miller talking this weekend at Mar-a-Lago.
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STEPHEN MILLER: We need to stand with the man who has stood with us and this country with every fiber of his being. It is the honor of my life to be President Trump’s chief of staff. And I swear to you, and I pledge you, Mr. President, my absolute loyalty, my unwavering commitment and my total devotion to your success and the success of this country.
ORDOÑEZ: And I’ll just add, Rob, that Trump posted this video on his social media page.
SCHMITZ: Wow, absolute loyalty – what does this mean for Trump working with Democrats?
ORDOÑEZ: I do think it raises a lot of questions. As you noted at the top, Trump has expressed an openness to doing that. And here is a little bit of what he told us here in Florida when asked about what policies he could work with Democrats on.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think a lot. I mean, I said before, immigrations one, tax cuts or maybe certain things having to do with taxes to make it more convenient and better, a lot of economic development initiatives we can do. I think we can do a lot of things together, actually. You know, a lot of them are about common sense also.
ORDOÑEZ: So it really is a wait and see moment. I mean, Trump says he wants to work with Democrats, but the appointment of Miller and other comments, too, like posting a picture of a red MAGA hat saying Mr. Veto, suggesting, for example, the ultimate fighting chief to be the press secretary, it all just sends a different message. And just to put one more point on this, even some Republicans have spoken out about Miller’s appointment, questioning whether Trump learned his lesson after such devastating midterm losses. You know, but as we’ve learned, Trump is going to do what Trump wants to do.
SCHMITZ: Right. I mean, you mentioned Trump offering the press secretary job to Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Is this for real?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, I really do want to be careful with this because the president does have a tendency to kind of lure political opponents into controversy in order to draw attention to himself and then kind of make fun of the overreaction. The White House is not clarifying whether this is genuine. That said, Dana White did say, yesterday, that he was going to meet with the president on Monday to talk about this. And this president has done some surprising things. You know, whatever happens, I do think it speaks to a message being sent, and that is that the president is saying he has no plans on backing down, and he is preparing to fight moving forward.
SCHMITZ: That is White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Franco, thank you.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Rob.
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