Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff for President Donald Trump, gave a candid profile to Vanity Fair that sparked debate over her remarks on the president’s personality and policy decisions.
Wiles’ Role and Interview Cadence
Wiles, 68, has spent the past year speaking to Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple eleven times about a range of issues, from the administration’s Venezuela strategy to efforts to shrink the federal government. The publication reported that Wiles originally planned to serve as Trump’s chief for six months and that a live feed of the president’s Truth Social posts plays on a freestanding video monitor in her office.
Personality Assessment and Trump’s Response
Wiles described Trump as having an “alcoholic’s personality,” despite the fact that Trump does not drink. She compared the president to her father, television sportscaster Pat Summerall, who she said suffered from alcoholism. “Some clinical psychologist that knows one million times more than I do will dispute what I’m going to say. But high‑functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink,” Wiles said. “And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities.” She added that Trump “operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”
Trump replied in an interview with the New York Post, defending Wiles and stating she has “done a fantastic job.” He said, “I don’t drink alcohol. So everybody knows that — but I’ve often said that if I did, I’d have a very good chance of being an alcoholic. I have said that many times about myself, I do. It’s a very possessive personality,” the president said. He continued, “I’m fortunate I’m not a drinker. If I did, I could very well, because I’ve said that — what’s the word? Not possessive — possessive and addictive type personality. Oh, I’ve said it many times, many times before.”
Health and Operational Decisions
Wiles maintained that Trump’s health is “great.” The president underwent a magnetic resonance imaging test in October that the White House disclosed was of Trump’s cardiovascular system and abdomen. The president’s physician described the imaging as “perfectly normal.” Wiles dismissed claims that Trump was falling asleep in Cabinet meetings, saying, “He’s not asleep. He’s got his eyes closed and his head leaned back … and, you know, he’s fine.”
Military Operations Against Venezuela
Wiles defended Trump’s military actions in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, where the U.S. targeted boats allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela. The operations expanded last week to the seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast. “He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,” she said. She added that the president believes in harsh penalties for drug dealers, stating, “The president believes in harsh penalties for drug dealers, as he’s said many, many times. … These are not fishing boats, as some would like to allege,” and that stopping the vessels is saving lives. “The president says 25,000. I don’t know what the number is. But he views those as lives saved, not people killed.”
Wiles said Trump does not currently need congressional approval to carry out attacks at sea, but that actions on Venezuela’s mainland would require such approval.
Epstein Files and Pam Bondi
Wiles criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi for her initial handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. She said she has read what she calls “the Epstein file” and that Trump, in it, is “not doing anything awful.” Wiles described Trump and the late convicted sex offender as “young, single playboys together.” She disputed Trump’s claims about former President Bill Clinton and Epstein, stating there is no evidence that Clinton visited one of Epstein’s islands 28 times and that Trump’s claim of incriminating Clinton was inaccurate. “The president was wrong about that,” Wiles said.
The administration faces a deadline Friday to release the government’s files on Epstein due to a law Trump signed last month. Wiles said Bondi erred in her initial handling, claiming Bondi gave binders full of nothingness and later said a witness or client list was on her desk, which Bondi denied. Bondi had previously said in February that she had a list of Epstein’s clients “sitting on my desk right now to review.” After a July review by the Justice Department and FBI found no client list, Bondi told reporters she was referring to Epstein‑related files.
Bondi wrote on X that her “dear friend” Wiles fights to advance Trump’s agenda “with grace, loyalty, and historic effectiveness.” She added that any attempt to divide the administration would fail, “We are family.”
Vice President Vance and Conspiracy Theories
Wiles labeled Vice President Vance a “conspiracy theorist” for a decade. She said Vance was initially a critic of Trump but changed during his Senate campaign, describing the conversion as “a little bit more, sort of political.” When asked by Vanity Fair, Vance said, “Sometimes I am a conspiracy theorist, but I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true.” He added, “And you know why I really love Susie Wiles? Because Susie is who she is in the president’s presence, she’s the same exact person when the president isn’t around. I’ve never seen Susie Wiles say something to the president and then go and counteract him or subvert his will behind the scenes.”
Elon Musk’s Role and USAID
Wiles discussed Elon Musk’s brief tenure leading the Department of Government Efficiency, which cut large portions of the federal government. She said, “He’s an avowed ketamine [user]. And he sleeps in a sleeping bag in the EOB [Executive Office Building] in the daytime. And he’s an odd, odd duck, as I think geniuses are. You know, it’s not helpful, but he is his own person.” Musk’s time in the administration ended on May 28, when he announced on X that he was departing after his scheduled time ended.
When asked about Musk reposting a tweet about public sector workers killing millions under Hitler, Stalin and Mao, Wiles said, “I think that’s when he’s microdosing,” and noted she had no first‑hand knowledge of any drug use. Musk said in a May X post that he had tried prescription ketamine a few years ago but was not taking drugs now.
Wiles disputed the quotation about Musk’s drug use in a New York Times interview, saying, “That’s ridiculous. I wouldn’t have said it and I wouldn’t know.” The Times reported that Whipple played an audio recording that confirmed Wiles’ comment about Musk.
Wiles was initially aghast when Musk dismantled the United States Agency for International Development. “Because I think anybody that pays attention to government and has ever paid attention to USAID believed, as I did, that they do very good work,” she said. She added, “When Elon said, ‘We’re doing this,’ he was already into it. And that’s probably because he knew it would be horrifying to others. And 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.”
Public Reactions and Statements
After the Vanity Fair profile was published, Wiles denounced the story on X as “a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.” She said significant context was disregarded and that the piece painted an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and the team.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Wiles in a statement: “Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has helped President Trump achieve the most successful first 11 months in office of any President in American history. President Trump has no greater or more loyal advisor than Susie. The entire Administration is grateful for her steady leadership and united fully behind her.”
Key Takeaways
- Wiles claims Trump has an alcoholic personality, a statement defended by Trump himself.
- Trump’s health is described as “great” by Wiles, and he denies falling asleep in meetings.
- The administration’s military actions against Venezuela are defended by Wiles as targeting drug vessels, not fishing boats.
The profile offers an inside view of the Trump administration’s internal dynamics, policy decisions, and the personalities that shape its direction. It also highlights the contentious nature of public commentary from senior aides and the swift responses from the White House and its allies.
