Dana White turns down Trump press secretary offer after Miller promotion

Donald Trump has named Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles after the Republicans' heavy midterm losses. The appointment was reported across BBC News, Sky News, ITV, Channel 4 and GB News. Miller, who was deputy chief of staff, will take over on Monday.

Trump told reporters that Miller was "a great fighter" and "very loyal". BBC Two's Newsnight reported the announcement from Trump's Truth Social post. It said Wiles would move to the president's political operation.

Miller is the architect of the administration's hardline immigration policy, including the ICE raids that Democrats have called unconstitutional. BBC News noted that he also spearheaded executive orders, drove first-term travel bans and is a staunch supporter of Israel.

Democrats condemned the promotion. BBC News reported that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on social media: "Donald Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat." Joy Cheney, a Democratic strategist, told BBC News the choice was "perplexing" and showed Trump had not taken the right lessons from the midterms.

BBC News's Gary O'Donoghue said the appointment signalled a doubling down on policies that were unpopular in the midterms. Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School, told BBC News it was "a pick that you make if you're President Trump, if you're basically ready to, for lack of a better term, go to war."

ITV reported that Wiles had been the disciplined centre of the administration and that she left after a devastating defeat and a breast cancer diagnosis. Channel 4 reported that both Democrats and Republicans criticised the Miller promotion, with one Democrat saying Miller should be "eradicated like a malignant tumour" from government.

Sky News's Dominic Waghorn described Miller as "the hardest of hardliners" and asked Trump how it felt "being a loser" after the midterms. Trump did not answer that question. Waghorn also asked about Iran, and Trump said the US was "talking to Iran" and had not lost a soldier in six or seven months.

Trump also offered the White House press secretary job to Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In a Truth Social post, Trump called White "a violent fighter and warrior" and asked him to bring UFC fighters to help defend against "the lunatic left". White initially said he had "a meeting on Monday" and was flying to Washington.

GB News later reported that White had turned down the role and made clear he did not want to go into politics. The channel also reported that Trump told reporters he had been "having a little fun" with the post. White appeared at a White House briefing but did not take the job.

Channel 4 reported that the offer was seen by some as a distraction from the midterm defeat. Bill Stepien, Trump's 2020 campaign manager, told Channel 4 that Trump was "a political genius at turning the page on a bad news cycle". Joe Caiazzo, a Democratic strategist, called the offer "completely unhinged and ridiculous".

BBC News reported that Dan Adler, a Vanity Fair staff writer, said it was unclear how serious the offer was and that White and Trump had a long friendship. Eric Ham, a US political analyst, told BBC News that if Trump was serious, it would send "shock waves through Republicans".