At his 2024 election victory party, Trump said that Susie Wiles “likes to stay in the background,” but she has emerged as a key figure in Trump’s political operation.
Wiles is the first woman in US history to serve as a president’s chief of staff. A longtime member of Trump’s inner circle, she ran his Florida campaigns in 2016 and 2020 and acted as his campaign manager in 2024.
“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected,” Trump wrote on Truth Social when announcing Wiles as his White House chief of staff. “Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again.”
In a March 2025 interview on Lara Trump’s “My View” show on Fox News, Wiles described herself as “quietly competitive.”
“I see my job as just sort of keeping the trains on the tracks and running on time here, so that the subject matter experts, and particularly the president and the vice president, can do what they need to do to fix the country,” she said.
In a series of interviews with Vanity Fair published in December, Wiles described Trump as having an “alcoholic’s personality,” Vice President JD Vance as a “conspiracy theorist,” and said she was “aghast” at Elon Musk’s dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development.
Wiles called the Vanity Fair article a “disingenuously framed hit piece” in a post on X, but did not dispute any of the magazine’s reporting. The Trump administration stood behind her, with Karoline Leavitt telling Business Insider that “President Trump has no greater or more loyal advisor than Susie,” adding, “The entire Administration is grateful for her steady leadership and united fully behind her.”
In March, Trump announced on Truth Social that Wiles had been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and that she would remain in her role at the White House during treatment.
“Her Strength and her Commitment to continue doing the job she loves, and does so well, while undergoing treatment, tells you everything you need to know about her,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Susie, as one of my closest and most important advisors, is tough and deeply committed to serving the American People. She will soon be better than ever!”