White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles revealed internal tensions within the Trump administration over issues ranging from immigration enforcement to downsizing the government in comments published by Vanity Fair on Tuesday that paint an unflattering picture of the role played by some of President Donald Trump’s closest advisers.
In a series of 11 interviews with author Chris Whipple, conducted during Trump’s first year in office, Wiles, the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, described the teetotal president as having an “alcoholic personality” and a vengeance toward perceived enemies.
“He has the personality of an alcoholic,” Wiles said of Trump, explaining that her upbringing with an alcoholic father prepared her to manage “big personalities.” Trump doesn’t drink, she noted, but operates with “a view that there’s nothing he can’t do.” Nothing, zero, nothing’.
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She also said that Vice President J.D. Vance “has been a conspiracy theorist for a decade.” She criticized the way billionaire Elon Musk dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and how Attorney General Pam Bondi initially responded to the planned release of Jeffrey Epstein’s files.
The story — which offered a rare window into the Trump White House from a high-ranking aide known for avoiding the spotlight — sparked a swift backlash from Wiles, Trump and senior members of the administration, who praised Wiles’ loyalty and leadership.
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Trump, who regularly describes Wiles as the ‘most powerful woman in the world’, told the New York Post on Tuesday that he has complete confidence in her. He said Wiles was right to describe him as having an ‘alcoholic personality’, explaining that he has a ‘possessive and addictive’ personality.
Vance also defended Wiles, telling reporters in Pennsylvania that he admires his consistency and authenticity with or without the president’s presence.
“I’ve never seen her be disloyal to the president of the United States and that makes her the best White House chief of staff the president could ask for,” he said, noting that he and Wiles often joked about him being a conspiracy theorist.
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“I’m a conspiracy theorist sometimes, but I only believe in conspiracy theories that are true,” he said.
‘Painful’ tariff decision
According to the interviews, Wiles said he warned Trump against pardoning the most violent participants in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and pressured him to delay his decision on sweeping trade tariffs, but was unable to change his mind in either case.
She said Trump’s announcement of tariffs on US trading partners earlier this year exposed deep divisions within his team, adding that the decision on the tariffs “was more painful than I expected.”
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Wiles, who managed Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign and has been seen as managing a more disciplined White House than in his first term, said she does not see her role as limiting the president but as facilitating his decisions. She said the fact that she was passed over was never a cause for complaint, noting that ultimately, she supported the final results.
“There were a few times when my vote was won,” she said. ‘And if there’s a tie, he wins.’
Wiles also said Bondi “completely got it wrong” in her handling of the Epstein files, a collection of Justice Department documents detailing the investigation into the convicted sex offender. The Epstein scandal has been a political headache for Trump for months, in part because he has amplified conspiracy theories about the disgraced financier to his own supporters.
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Bondi initially suggested he would release incriminating information about Epstein’s alleged network of acquaintances, but later backed off, upsetting Trump’s right-wing base.
Bondi said on X on Tuesday that Wiles works tirelessly to advance Trump’s agenda, adding that any effort to sow division within the administration would not succeed and that the team remains united.
Wiles said in interviews that he had read Epstein’s documents and acknowledged that Trump’s name is on them, but that “he’s not in the files doing anything terrible.”
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Trump’s push for New York Attorney General Letitia James to be prosecuted over allegations of mortgage fraud may have been motivated by feelings of revenge against the Democratic official, Wiles said.
The case against James, a Trump critic, “was perhaps the only retribution,” Wiles said. She added that while Trump may not wake up thinking about retribution, “when there is an opportunity, he will take it.”
Wiles said she was shocked by Musk’s dismantling of USAID, including its global aid programs, calling the approach “not the way I would do it.” She said she confronted Musk for locking employees out of their offices, saying no reasonable person could consider his handling of the aid agency effective.
Musk ran Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which was tasked with reducing the federal government’s budget and workforce at the start of Trump’s second term. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Wiles acknowledged concerns about the way some immigrant deportations were handled, saying the process needs more detailed analysis and should include a ‘double check’ when there is uncertainty.
She did not object to Trump’s actions against Venezuela, including attacks on boats suspected of transporting drugs, but suggested his true goal was regime change against President Nicolás Maduro. She noted that any ground attack ordered by Trump in Venezuela or the region would require congressional approval.
