Trump backs Chief of Staff Susie Wiles after Vanity Fair profile triggers backlash

According to an in-depth report by The Washington Post, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles found herself at the centre of an unexpected controversy after giving a series of unusually candid interviews to Vanity Fair, prompting a rare but short-lived crisis inside the Trump administration.

The episode unfolded after Wiles participated in extensive interviews and a full-day photo shoot arranged directly by her office, largely outside the oversight of the White House communications team.

The resulting Vanity Fair profile included sharp personal critiques of senior officials, including the vice president and Attorney General Pam Bondi, as well as references to internal disagreements over President Trump’s early second-term decisions. The photographs accompanying the article, described by officials as unflattering, further alarmed staff.

Despite internal frustration, President Donald Trump did not view the episode as grounds for dismissal. According to senior administration officials cited by The Washington Post, Trump dismissed speculation about firing Wiles, joked privately about the situation, and told aides she should not have devoted so much time to a publication he views as hostile.

Publicly, Trump reaffirmed his support, telling reporters that Wiles was “doing a great job,” while his spokeswoman described her as the best chief of staff he could ask for.

What followed was a striking show of unity across the administration. Officials whom Wiles had criticised publicly rushed to defend her. The vice president acknowledged her characterisation of him as a “conspiracy theorist.” Bondi called Wiles a “dear friend” despite criticism over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, and Donald Trump Jr. credited her with rescuing him politically during earlier years in Washington.

The Washington Post notes that the episode recalled the personnel dramas of Trump’s first term but underscored how differently his second term has been managed. There were no anonymous leaks, no internal calls for Wiles’s removal, and no visible power struggle. Instead, the administration closed ranks, demonstrating the extent of Wiles’s authority and how deeply embedded she is in Trump’s inner circle.

Wiles, the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, is portrayed as central to nearly every major national security and domestic decision in Trump’s second term. A longtime Florida political operative, she earned Trump’s trust during his 2016 campaign, managed his successful 2024 run, and views her role not as managing the president, but as enforcing discipline among his staff.

The report concludes that while Wiles miscalculated the impact of her candour, the fallout ultimately reinforced her standing, highlighting a White House more focused than in the past on containing internal disputes and denying the media the spectacle of high-level firings.

By Tamilla Hasanova