President Trump's cabinet includes some widely-known personalities like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Elon Musk — but the member who wields the most influence usually prefers to stay behind the scenes. Susie Wiles, Trump’s White House chief of staff, tends to shy away from the spotlight. But a new sweeping Vanity Fair piece offers unprecedented access to the woman in Donald Trump's ear — and she was not afraid to speak out.
In the piece, Wiles, 67, got candid about what she really thinks of her boss and whom he surrounds himself with: She called Elon Musk "an odd, odd duck" who's "an avowed ketamine [user]," and said JD Vance has "been a conspiracy theorist for a decade." She said President Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality.” That's not all.
What Susie Wiles said about Trump in Vanity Fair
She also expressed disapproval of some of Trump's policies, including gutting USAID: “I was initially aghast, because I think anybody that pays attention to government and has ever paid attention to USAID believed, as I did, that they do very good work,” she told the outlet. She also admitted the rollout of Trump's tariffs has "been more painful than I expected.”
Wiles also criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi's failed release the Epstein files: "There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk." More explosively, she pushed back on Trump's frequent assertion that Bill Clinton visited Epstein's island 28 times: "There is no evidence” that happened, she said, adding, "The president was wrong about that.”
She also answered the question on everyone's mind: Trump "is in the file," she said. "And we know he's in the file. And he’s not in the file doing anything awful.” She also denied Epstein's birthday letter depicting a drawing of a nude woman belongs to the president and claimed neither she nor Trump know why Ghislaine Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison.
Wait, who is Susie Wiles?
Wiles, the New Jersey-born daughter of late NFL kicker and legendary sportscaster Pat Summerall, graduated from the University of Maryland. She's been operating in conservative politics for decades, working on both local and national campaigns.
Wiles started out as an entry-level staffer for Rep. Jack Kemp (N.Y.); subsequently, she worked as a scheduler for Ronald Reagan and also worked in Reagan’s labor department.
Plus, she spent time on George H.W. Bush’s campaign and, in the Florida governor’s race in 2010, helped lead then-businessman Rick Scott’s campaign.
She married Republican consultant Lanny Wiles; they settled in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, in 1985. She has two daughters and enjoys baking and spending time with her grandchildren.
How did Wiles get close to Trump?
Wiles ran Trump’s campaign in Florida during the 2016 election and was key to helping him win the state. At the time, her colleagues within the Republican party questioned her commitment to Trump, whose reputation was met with incredulity.
In 2016, Wiles explained her decision to back Trump to the Tampa Bay Times, stating that none of Trump’s Republican opponents were willing to bring adequate change to Washington: “I said, ‘I don’t want this to continue.’ I think it seriously will damage our republic and who among that group can really have the fortitude to shift what I’ve seen happening over all these years?”
After Trump’s victory in 2016, Wiles then managed Ron DeSantis’ run for governor. The two had a falling out, however, and Wiles then helped Trump defeat DeSantis in the GOP primary. The origins of that rift are fuzzy, but Wiles made an exceedingly rare appearance on social media directly before DeSantis dropped out of the race. On X (the platform then known as Twitter), she responded to a Tweet about how DeSantis’ website had been wiped of upcoming events; Wiles wrote, “Bye, bye.” This terse send-off was made more contentious by the fact that she had previously tweeted only three times during that year.
Wiles ultimately helped Trump win the popular vote in the 2024 Presidential Election.
What have insiders said about Wiles?
Unlike most of the president-elect's inner circle, Wiles is notable for shying away from speaking engagements, TV interviews, and other hallmarks of the spotlight; when Trump offered her the microphone during his victory party in West Palm Beach, she demurely declined the opportunity to speak. Still, in Trump’s victory speech, he referred to her as “the ice maiden.”
In a statement, Trump described Wiles as "tough, smart, innovative, and universally admired and respected."
Turnover has traditionally been very high within Trump’s campaign (the president-elect went through four chiefs of staff during his first term), but insiders believe Wiles may have staying power.
What other experience does Wiles have?
Aside from being a mainstay in Florida politics, Wiles also moonlights as a registered lobbyist. While running Trump’s campaign, Wiles was a lobbyist for a tobacco company named Swisher International; between 2023 and the beginning of 2024, she worked to influence Congress on "FDA regulations."
Wiles also acts as the co-chair for the Florida and Washington, D.C., offices of Mercury Public Affairs. This lobbying firm’s clients include Airbnb, AT&T, eBay, Pfizer, Tesla, SpaceX, and the Embassy of Qatar — although Wiles isn’t a registered lobbyist for any of those clients. Mercury ended its relationship with Swisher in 2024.
