What to know about Susie Wiles, Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff
Last week, President-elect Donald Trump announced his campaign co-chair Susie Wiles will serve as his White House chief of staff, the first woman — Republican or Democrat — ever to hold that position. Calling her “tough, smart, innovative…, universally admired and respected,” Trump credited her with helping him win both the 2024 and 2016 elections.
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Behind the scenes
Wiles is known as a formidable political operative who prefers to work behind the scenes, rather than on any stage — or in front of cameras. In keeping with that, when Trump declared victory in the early hours of last Wednesday morning, he invited her to come to the microphones, but she politely declined.
She’s managed to not just curry favor, but more critically, to remain in good standing with Trump, winning his trust while working in a high-profile campaign role, managing the ambitions, personalities and egos in Trump’s orbit.
interview on ABC’s “The View,” accused Trump of not associating with “strong, intelligent women.” In response, Wiles posted for the first time this year: “I’m told [Mark Cuban] needs help identifying the strong and intelligent women surrounding Pres. Trump. Well, here we are!”
Background
After Trump won the 2016 election, Wiles, who was the chief strategist in Florida for his campaign, was dispatched in late September of 2018 to help Ron DeSantis with his 2018 bid to be Florida governor. At the time, he was trailing Democrat Andrew Gillum in several polls.
After helping DeSantis win, however, Wiles was shut out of his inner circle, according to The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta. Wiles told Alberta that working for DeSantis was the “biggest mistake” of her career. She returned to the Trump campaign and ran his Florida campaign in 2020, and then after his loss, she went on to run Trump’s Save America PAC.
As Trump’s 2024 co-campaign manager, Wiles, along with Chris LaCivita, hatched a plan to recruit, register and turn out Trump’s low-propensity voters, Alberta reported. During the primary campaign, they pursued people in the reddest areas of the country who liked Trump but weren’t habitual voters and in many cases, weren’t even registered to vote. During the general campaign, Wiles and LaCivita raised a volunteer army to take on the legions of canvassers paid by Kamala Harris’ cash-rich coffers.
Wiles is a native of New Jersey, the daughter of the renowned late NFL kicker and sportscaster Pat Summerall. Soon after she graduated from college at the University of Maryland, she worked for Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign, and later went on to work in Florida politics. In 2010, she helped Sen. Rick Scott win his election against Democrat Bill McCollum, and she has also been a political consultant in Florida.
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Source: cbsnews.com