US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Susie Wiles, the manager of his victorious campaign, as his White House Chief of Staff,
Susie Wiles is the first woman to hold an influential role in the US.
She is widely credited within and outside Trump’s inner circle for running what was, by far, his most disciplined and well-executed campaign.
Wiles was seen as the leading contender for the position, who largely avoided the spotlight, even refusing to take the mic to speak as Trump celebrated his victory early on Wednesday morning.
Wiles’s hire is Trump’s first major decision as president-elect and one that could be a defining test of his incoming administration, as he must quickly build the team that will help run the federal government.
She does not bring government experience to the role but has a close relationship with the president-elect.
She was able to do what few others have been able to: help control Trump’s impulses – not by chiding him or lecturing, but by earning his respect and showing him that he was better off when he followed her advice than flouting it.
“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in a statement. “It is a well-deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I do not doubt that she will make our country proud.”
Trump went through four chiefs of staff – including one who served in an acting capacity for a year – during his first administration, part of a record-setting personnel churn in his administration.
Successful chiefs of staff serve as the president’s confidant, help execute a president’s agenda, and balance competing political and policy priorities. They also tend to serve as gatekeepers, helping determine whom the president spends his time with and whom he speaks to – an effort Trump chafed under inside the White House.
The chief of staff is “absolutely critical to an effective White House”, said Chris Whipple, whose book The Gatekeepers details how the White House chief of staff role shapes and defines a presidency. “At the end of the day, the most important thing is telling the president what he doesn’t want to hear.
“On the plus side, she’s shown that she can manage Trump, that she works with him and can sometimes tell him hard truths, and that’s important,” said Whipple. “On the minus side, she has no White House experience and hasn’t worked in Washington in 40 years. And that’s a real disadvantage.”
Wiles is a longtime Florida-based Republican strategist who ran Trump’s campaigns in the state in 2016 and 2020. Before that, she ran Rick Scott’s 2010 campaign for Florida governor and briefly served as the manager of the former Utah governor Jon Huntsman’s 2012 presidential campaign.
Chris LaCivita, who along with Wiles served as a co-manager of the campaign, posted on Twitter/X: “So Happy and proud of one of the fiercest and most loyal warriors I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with !!!”
