President-elect Donald Trump announced late Thursday that his campaign co-chair Susie Wiles will serve as his White House chief of staff come January, the first woman to ever hold that position.
“Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history, and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns,” Trump said in a statement. “Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again. It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female chief of staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”
Wiles is known as a formidable political operative who prefers to work behind the scenes, rather than on camera. Trump asked her to come to the microphone when he declared victory early Wednesday morning, and she declined, preferring to stay out of the spotlight.
Wiles has managed to not just curry but, more critically, keep Trump’s favor while working in a high-profile campaign role, managing the ambitions, personalities and egos in Trump’s orbit.
Wiles used to work for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, helping secure the governor’s office for him. But DeSantis’ relationship with her soured, and Trump world brought her into the fold. Wiles helped team Trump defeat her former boss in the Republican primaries.
Wiles’ father was the late Pat Summerall, a famous sports broadcaster. Now 67, Wiles has worked behind-the-scenes roles shaping and guiding politicians in Florida for four decades.
The chief of staff role is a demanding one that involves managing the president himself, in addition to senior White House staff, and by extension, the hundreds of people who work in the West Wing. But it also involves mapping out and executing a president’s policy objectives, ambitions and legacy.
Trump had four chiefs of staff during his first term, and parted with some of them on uncomfortable terms. Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, John Kelly, has said Trump meets the definition of a fascist, and warned against a second Trump term. Reince Priebus, Mark Meadows and Mick Mulvaney also served in the role, although Mulvaney was only ever an acting chief of staff.