On December 16, 2025, Washington found itself at the center of a political storm after Vanity Fair published a two-part profile of Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s chief of staff. The articles, penned by reporter Chris Whipple, pulled back the curtain on the inner workings of the Trump White House, offering an unusually candid look at Wiles’ opinions on the president, his top officials, and the policies shaping the administration’s second term. The fallout was swift and dramatic: within hours, a chorus of Trump loyalists—ranging from Cabinet secretaries to Trump’s own family—rallied to Wiles’ defense, painting a portrait of unity in the face of what they saw as a media attack.
Wiles, who has long maintained a reserved and influential presence in the West Wing, gave Whipple access to her unfiltered thoughts over the course of 11 interviews. According to Vanity Fair, Wiles described Trump as having “an alcoholic’s personality,” even though he famously abstains from drinking. She explained, “High-functioning alcoholics, or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. [Trump] operates with a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”
The chief of staff didn’t stop there. She called Russell Vought, the head of the Office of Management and Budget, a “right-wing absolute zealot,” and described Vice President JD Vance as a “conspiracy theorist for a decade.” Attorney General Pam Bondi, meanwhile, was said to have “whiffed” on handling the Jeffrey Epstein files—a matter of significant interest to Trump’s most fervent supporters. Wiles also acknowledged early failures and even drug use by billionaire Elon Musk during his government tenure, and she cited missteps in the administration’s immigration crackdown, including a tragic case in which two mothers and their American children were deported to Honduras, one of whom was being treated for Stage 4 cancer. “I can’t understand how you make that mistake, but somebody did,” she told Whipple.
Perhaps most controversially, Wiles expressed concern over some of Trump’s most high-profile decisions. She questioned the dismantling of USAID, opposed the blanket pardon of all 1,600 convicted in the January 6 riot—including those charged with violent crimes—and described the administration’s initial approach to tariffs as “more painful than I had expected.” At the same time, she defended the U.S. military’s strikes on drug boats in the Caribbean and the administration’s tough stance on Venezuela. “The president wants to keep on blowing up boats up until [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro cries uncle,” Wiles said, though she acknowledged that any land-based military action would require congressional approval: “If he were to authorize some activity on land, then it’s war, then [we’d need] Congress.”
Wiles’ frankness extended to the president’s much-discussed penchant for retribution. “I don’t think he wakes up thinking about retribution,” she told Vanity Fair, “but when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.” She admitted she had tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade Trump to get any retribution campaign “out of the way within his first 90 days in office,” hoping the administration could then move on to more pressing matters.
Unsurprisingly, the reaction from Trump’s team was immediate and forceful. Wiles herself took to X (formerly Twitter) to denounce the Vanity Fair articles as a “disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.” She added, “Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story. I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.”
President Trump, for his part, stood firmly behind his chief of staff. Speaking to the New York Post, he declared, “She’s done a fantastic job. I think from what I hear, the facts were wrong, and it was a very misguided interviewer—purposely misguided.” He even agreed with Wiles’ assessment of his personality, saying, “No, she meant that I’m—you see, 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 defense didn’t end there. Nearly a dozen top officials and allies, including White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Russell Vought, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Kristi Noem, Secretary of Interior Doug Burgam, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin, and FBI Director Kash Patel, all posted public messages supporting Wiles. According to TNND, Leavitt wrote on X that Wiles had been pivotal to Trump’s “most successful first 11 months in office of any President in American history.” She added, “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.”
Pam Bondi, despite being a target of Wiles’ criticism, praised her as someone who “fights every day to advance President Trump’s agenda—and she does so with grace, loyalty, and historic effectiveness.” Bondi added, “Any attempt to divide this administration will fail. Any attempt to undermine and downplay President Trump’s monumental achievements will fail.”
Russell Vought, whom Wiles had labeled a “zealot,” responded with admiration: “I have had the privilege of working in President Trump’s White House for every single minute of his two terms. Let me be very clear: It has never worked this well or been more oriented towards accomplishing what he wants to accomplish. In my portfolio, she is always an ally in helping me deliver for the president. And this hit piece will not slow us down.”
Even Vice President JD Vance, called a “conspiracy theorist” by Wiles, responded with humor and praise. “Sometimes I am a conspiracy theorist, but I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true,” Vance quipped. He continued, “Susie Wiles, we have our disagreements—we agree on much more than we disagree—but I’ve never seen her be disloyal to the president of the United States. That makes her the best White House chief of staff that the president could ask for.”
Donald Trump Jr. added his voice on X, declaring, “Susie Wiles is by far the most effective and trustworthy Chief of Staff that my father has ever had. She was a loyal fighter for him from the moment she came on board.”
The coordinated response was no accident. As NOTUS reported, White House officials actively shared Wiles’ public statement with allies to contain any potential backlash. The administration’s swift, unified front seemed designed to send a clear message: internal disagreements and candid critiques would not derail the broader mission or shake the loyalty of Trump’s inner circle.
Despite the uproar, Wiles herself remained focused on her work. She told Vanity Fair that she would be happy to stay in her role for as long as the president wanted her, noting that she had the time and dedication needed for the job. “So no, I’m not an enabler. I’m also not a bitch. I try to be thoughtful about what I even engage in. I guess time will tell whether I’ve been effective.”
As the dust settles, the episode underscores both the volatility and the resilience of the Trump White House. Wiles’ candor may have fueled controversy, but the administration’s response has only reinforced her standing as a central figure in Trump’s orbit—one whose loyalty, effectiveness, and willingness to speak her mind continue to shape the course of the presidency.
