Donald Trump’s attack dog Stephen Miller is tipped to become the next national security adviser. Mr Miller, the deputy chief of staff and the brain behind the administration’s immigration crackdown, is the top candidate to replace Mike Waltz, who was axed from the role on Thursday by Mr Trump. The US president announced Mr Waltz would be appointed to the role of UN ambassador following hours of media fanfare over his removal. Mr Miller’s name was floated as a possible contender shortly after Mr Trump made the announcement. A staunch loyalist to the president, he has been an aggressive defender of the administration’s push for the deportations of hundreds of illegal immigrants without court hearings. In an aggressive Oval Office exchange Mr Miller branded a CNN journalist “arrogant” after she asked about returning Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, after he was accidentally deported to El Salvador. While the Trump administration admitted its mistake, members continue to insist that he has links to the violent MS-13 gang, an allegation Mr Abrego Garcia denies. Mr Miller is known to run Homeland Security Council “like clockwork,” which is “infinitely more effective than the NSC [National Security Council] with a tiny fraction” of the staff, a White House source told Axios. He has worked closely with Marco Rubio, the secretary of state who has been made interim national security adviser, during his second stint in the White House. “Marco and Stephen have worked really closely on immigration and it might be a perfect match,” added another White House source. Another insider said that he is seen among some as the “perfect person” to bring the role up to scratch rather than an “inflated cabinet position”. While Mr Miller is thought to be interested in the job, some believe he may turn it down “if it takes him away from his true love: immigration policy,” according to Axios. Marco Rubio is expected to stay in the interim role for as long as six months while the administration finds a replacement, according to Politico. “It was not set up to be a stop-gap measure,” a White House official said. Mr Rubio was asked to step in and take “more fulsome control” over the admissions overall foreign policy apparatus by Mr Trump and Susie Wiles, his chief of staff. Outgoing Mike Waltz was said to have been offered the choice of several alternate jobs, including ambassador to Saudi Arabia, according to CBS News. Alex Wong, his deputy, is expected to remain at the National Security Council to aid with the transition. Mr Miller is one of Mr Trump’s longest-serving aides. He was a senior adviser in Mr Trump’s first term and has been a central figure in many of his policy decisions including the president’s controversial move to separate immigrant children from their parents in 2018, which was reversed. Heaping praise on his deputy chief of staff, Mr Trump told crowds at his 100 Day rally in Michigan on Tuesday that there was “nobody smarter or tougher than Stephen Miller”. Taking the stage himself, Mr Miller added: “President Trump has achieved the most secure border in American history. He’s fighting violent crime. “He’s fighting the drug cartels. He’s cutting your taxes. He’s cutting wasteful spending. He’s draining the swamp.” Runners and riders By Benedict Smith Steve Witkoff, the US Middle East envoy, is not just a personal friend and golf partner of Donald Trump, but won his confidence after helping secure a temporary ceasefire in Gaza earlier this year. He has now taken charge of negotiations with Russia to end the Ukraine war, and in the past two months has met four times with Vladimir Putin. The last time they met, he shook the Russian president’s hand and said it was “good” to meet him. Seen initially as a frontrunner to replace Mr Waltz, CNN reports that he has told allies he does not want the job and does not expect to get it – but could take it if Mr Trump approached him. One person familiar with Mr Witkoff’s thinking cast doubt on whether he would want to give up the flexibility of his wide-ranging brief to be “saddled with managing” the national security council. Officials have previously said he liked to operate as a “lone ranger”. Marco Rubio will temporarily take on Mr Waltz’s role as national security adviser, Mr Trump announced on Thursday. But Mr Trump has said his will be an “interim” appointment, and the US secretary of state is unlikely to want to give up his role as the nation’s chief diplomat and seat at the cabinet table to take on the post full time. There is, however, a slim possibility that he could combine the two roles, following in the footsteps of Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. Mr Rubio, who backs an aggressive stance on Russia, China and Iran, is also likely to prove too hawkish for some of Mr Trump’s Maga allies – such as Laura Loomer, the Right-wing activist who has taken credit for Mr Waltz’s ousting. Christopher Landau, the deputy US secretary of state, may see himself elevated to Mr Trump’s inner circle as national security adviser. However, Mr Landau’s field of expertise has been confined more to Latin America rather than Ukraine, Iran or the Middle East. A fluent Spanish speaker, he served as Mr Trump’s ambassador to Mexico in his first term. His father, George W Landau, was the US ambassador to Paraguay, Chile, and Venezuela in the 1970s and 1980s. Richard Grenell’s name was raised as a potential secretary of state as Mr Trump assembled his cabinet last year, but he lost out to Mr Rubio and was left with the consolation prize of “presidential special missions envoy”. In the first administration, he served as US ambassador to Germany, where he delighted his boss by making enemies in Berlin with his abrasive manner. “When Ric Grenell was taken out, this was the best day in Angela [Merkel’s] life,” Mr Trump later recalled. “He was not your typical ambassador.” With a wide-ranging brief as special missions envoy, he has travelled to Venezuela, been appointed interim head of the Kennedy Centre, and according to The Financial Times helped secure the release of the Tate brothers from Romania. The White House says it had no direct role in bringing Andrew and Tristan Tate, who had been held in Romania on human trafficking charges, to Florida. Sebastian Gorka is currently the administration’s senior director for counter-terrorism, and could see himself boosted further up the national security ladder. Born in Britain, the 54-year-old was a deputy assistant to the president in his first term – but only for seven months. He claimed he was driven out by “forces” hostile to Mr Trump’s “Maga promise”, leaving shortly after his close ally Steve Bannon departed the White House. Mr Gorka subsequently became a regular face on conservative media, including Fox News and Newsmax, and since returning to government this year has been a vocal defender of the Trump administration on TV. Recently, he suggested Democrats who defended Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was controversially deported to El Salvador in March, could be prosecuted for “aiding and abetting”.