Who is Susie Wiles, Trump's new White House chief of staff?
FILE-Susie Wiles speaks with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump after he was declared the winner during an election night watch party at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washi
Susie Wiles has been named President-elect Donald Trump’s new White House chief of staff.
Wiles would become the first woman to ever hold the prominent role as the president's closest adviser and counsel.
Here's what you need to know about Wiles.
Who is Susie Wiles?
Susie Wiles, the daughter of NFL player and sportscaster Pat Summerall, worked in the Washington office of New York Rep. Jack Kemp in the 1970s. Wiles also had stints with Ronald Reagan’s campaign and in his White House as a scheduler.
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Wiles traveled to Florida and advised two Jacksonville mayors and worked for Rep. Tillie Fowler. Wiles was also credited with helping businessman Rick Scott win the governor’s office.
She briefly managed Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s 2012 presidential campaign, and ran Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential effort in Florida, when his win in the state helped him clinch the White House, the Associated Press reported.
Wiles avoids the spotlight— most of the time
Susie Wiles is one of the few top officials to survive an entire Trump campaign and was part of the team that put together a more professional operation for his third White House bid. Wiles has avoided the spotlight, even refusing to speak as Trump celebrated his election victory early Wednesday morning.
According to the AP, Wiles demonstrated she was not above taking on duties for volunteers. At one of Trump’s appearances in Iowa in 2023, as Trump posed for pictures with voters, Wiles grabbed a clipboard and started approaching individuals waiting to get them to fill out cards committing to caucus for Trump in the leadoff primary contest.
In another few posts on X in 2024, Wiles responded after billionaire Mark Cuban said that Trump did not have "strong, intelligent women" in his orbit. After Wiles’ selection as White House chief of staff, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a Trump supporter, joked on X that the president-elect had chosen a "strong, intelligent woman" as his chief of staff.
Wiles has worked with Ron DeSantis
Susie Wiles helped get Ron DeSantis elected as Florida's governor. The AP reported that DeSantis and Wiles developed a rift that led to DeSantis to urge Trump's 2020 campaign to sever its ties with Wiles, when she was again running the then-president's state campaign.
Wiles posted only three times on X, formerly Twitter, this year at the time of her announcement. Before DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January, Wiles hopped on social media responding to a message that DeSantis had cleared his campaign website of upcoming events with a short but clear message: "Bye, bye."
Can Wiles control Trump’s impulses?
Susie Wiles was able to manage Donald Trump’s impulses by earning his respect and showing him that he was better off when he followed her advice.
The AP noted during later stages in his campaign, when Trump delivered a speech in Pennsylvania in which he wandered off his talking points and implied he wouldn't mind the media being shot, Wiles came out to stare at him silently.
The president-elect often referenced Wiles on the campaign trail, praising her leadership of what he said he was told was his "best-run campaign." "She’s incredible. Incredible," Trump said at a Milwaukee rally in November.
Will Wiles have staying power as Trump’s chief of staff?
During his first administration, Donald Trump went through four chiefs of staff. According to the AP, a chief of staff serves as the president’s confidant, helping to carry out an agenda and balancing competing political and policy priorities. They also tend to serve as a gatekeeper, helping to figure out whom the president spends their time and to whom they speak.
The AP noted that Trump has said he believes the biggest mistake of his first term was hiring the wrong people. The former president was new to Washington, D.C. then, he said, and did not know any better. But now, Trump says, he knows the "best people" and those to avoid for jobs.