The president’s chief of staff Susie Wiles has given her own, unvarnished thoughts about Donald Trump’s administration, in a series of interviews published by Vanity Fair magazine, revealing details and opinions that presidential aides usually save for memoirs long after they have left power.
From calling out attorney general Pam Bondi over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, to criticising Elon Musk over the dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Wiles has offered an unusually candid look inside the White House, after maintaining a low profile for much of Trump’s term.
In a series of 11 interviews with author Chris Whipple conducted over Trump’s first year back in office, Wiles, the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, described the teetotal president as having “an alcoholic’s personality” and an eye for vengeance against perceived enemies.
After the publication of the piece on Tuesday, Wiles called the Vanity Fair story “a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest president, White House staff, and cabinet in history,” saying it omitted important context and selectively quoted her to create a negative narrative. A number of cabinet officials and other aides rushed to her defence – but Wiles notably has not denied any details or quotes.
1. Wiles’s thoughts on Trump’s inner circle
Trump’s chief of staff said vice-president JD Vance has been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade”, and his conversion to the Maga cause was “sort of political”.
Elon Musk overstepped on his department of government efficiency (Doge) efforts, she said, calling him “a complete solo actor … an odd, odd duck”, adding his gutting of USAID left her “initially aghast”.
He decided that it was a better approach to shut it down, fire everybody, shut them out, and then go rebuild. Not the way I would do it.”
Wiles calls health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr “quirky Bobby”, but in praising Kennedy, Wiles explained her embrace of the administration’s hardliners.
He pushes the envelope – some would say too far. But I say in order to get back to the middle, you have to push it too far.”
2. Wiles defends Trump while comparing him to an alcoholic
Wiles described Trump as an intense figure who thinks in broad strokes. She assessed Trump as having “an alcoholic’s personality”, even though the president does not drink. But the personality trait is something she recognises from her father, the famous sports broadcaster Pat Summerall.
High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities.”
3. Trump’s revenge crusade has gone longer than Wiles initially wanted
“We have a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over,” Wiles said early in Trump’s second administration, telling Vanity Fair she did try to tamp down on the president’s penchant for retribution.
But in August 2025, she shifted. “I don’t think he’s on a retribution tour,” she said, arguing Trump has a different principle: “‘I don’t want what happened to me to happen to somebody else.’”
4. Trump was ‘wrong’ about Bill Clinton
Wiles said Trump pushed false narratives that former president Bill Clinton frequented Epstein’s infamous island. “There is no evidence” those visits happened, according to Wiles, and there are no damning findings concerning Clinton at all.
The president was wrong about that.”
In some of her most eye-popping commentary, Wiles said attorney general Pam Bondi “whiffed” on handling the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, particularly trying to manage public expectations by suggesting the justice department had a client list waiting to be disclosed only for the administration to later say it doesn’t exist.
5. Trump’s tariffs are ‘more painful’ than expected
Wiles called the rollout of “Liberation Day” tariffs in April “so much thinking out loud”, adding there were internal disputes about it among aides. She said she asked Vance to tell Trump to “not talk about tariffs today” until his team was “in complete unity”.
Wiles said she believed a middle ground on tariffs would be successful. But, she concluded, “It’s been more painful than I expected.”
6. For Trump, boat strikes are about removing Nicolás Maduro from power
Wiles said in November that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro cries uncle”.
Trump has repeatedly said Maduro’s “days are numbered” as the US intensifies deadly attacks on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific. The administration alleges the targets are drug-smuggling cartels.
With the Associated Press and Reuters
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
