Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier said Friday that President Donald Trump's decision to replace Chief of Staff Susie Wiles with longtime adviser Stephen Miller is a clear sign the administration does not intend to cut deals once Democrats assume their majorities. According to Baier, who made the comments on Fox News (video), the staffing change means the president is "girding up for battle" in the face of coming Democratic investigations.

The chief of staff runs the West Wing's day-to-day operations, manages the president's schedule and staff access, and coordinates policy and political strategy across the administration, which is why changes in the role are read as signals of how a White House intends to govern.

Baier noted that Wiles had admitted in private conversations that she knew a change might be coming after the GOP's historic midterm loss. Rumors that she could depart had circulated for weeks, driven in part by her role at the helm of the White House's failed campaign strategy.

Miller is one of the chief architects of Trump's mass deportation policies and among the administration's foremost proponents of the aggressive ICE tactics that voters cited as a key reason for rebuking the president in the midterms. His antagonistic approach to politics stands in sharp contrast to a public that just voted against further chaos.

In Baier's assessment, Miller's appointment means Trump is preparing for confrontation with the Democrats.

"It signals that the president is girding for a battle," Baier explained. "Stephen Miller is not the guy that you're reaching out to Democrats with to make a deal on immigration. I'm not saying that a deal on immigration might not come, but Stephen Miller is the person who has driven a lot of the immigration and deportation rules that we saw up until this point, some that were not in favor by the voters on Tuesday."

Baier added that insiders say Miller, behind the scenes, "works a lot of different levers and has his hands in a lot, and had his hands in a lot already," and is "the guy that knows how executive orders work the best." That matters to Trump because, for the next two years, executive orders will be his only means of taking action without collaborating with Congress. Executive orders allow a president to direct federal agencies without a congressional vote, though a successor administration can rescind them and the courts can review them. According to Baier, Miller was "running point" on the flurry of executive orders Trump issued in the first 100 days of his second administration.

Shortly after the appointment was announced, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) — a close Trump ally who has been involved in the president's efforts to conquer Greenland — appeared on Fox News (video) and agreed that Miller was placed in the new role largely in preparation for fighting Democratic investigations. Control of congressional majorities comes with committee chairmanships and the power to compel documents and testimony through subpoenas, the oversight tools behind investigations of the kind Baier and Landry both described. How those investigations take shape — and whether any room remains for an immigration deal, a possibility Baier did not rule out — are the immediate threads to watch.

"He understands the legal pitfalls," Landry asserted, calling Miller a "great choice."

While other MAGA allies took to social media to celebrate Miller's ascension, many commentators were not as thrilled.

"Stephen Miller isn't stupid," National Review senior contributor Dan McLaughlin (posted on X). "He is, however, profoundly foolish & out of touch with political reality. You don't put him in charge of an expanding empire. You put him in charge of a bunker."

Miles Taylor, who served as Deputy Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term, issued an even starker warning (on X): "I spent two years working with Stephen Miller. His appointment as White House chief of staff is among the most dangerous personnel decisions in the history of our republic. I say that without reservation."