As expected, US President-elect Donald Trump has begun making key appointments in the White House. The first appointment order by Trump has created history by giving the White House its first woman chief of staff. Trump on Thursday appointed his campaign manager Susie Wiles as his Chief of Staff. With this, she has become the first woman to hold the influential cabinet position heading the White House executive office. With this appointment, Wiles has now moved from a behind-the-scenes role to the high-profile position of the president’s closest adviser and counsel.
“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,” President Trump said. “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 honour 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,” he added.
Vice President-elect JD Vance also hailed her appointment. “This is great news. Susie was a huge asset to President Trump during the campaign and will be a huge asset in the White House. She’s also just a really good person,” he said.
Wiles is a veteran Florida political strategist. Wiles is the daughter of Pat Summerall, a football player and sportscaster.
In the 1970s, Susan Wiles began her political career working in the Washington office of New York Congressman Jack Kemp. She then joined Ronald Reagan’s campaign and went on to serve as a scheduler in his White House. Moving to Florida, Wiles became a trusted advisor to two Jacksonville mayors and worked for Representative Tillie Fowler. Her growing influence in Florida’s high-stakes political arena later helped businessman Rick Scott secure the governor’s office. After briefly managing Utah Governor Jon Huntsman’s 2012 presidential campaign, Wiles led Donald Trump’s 2016 Florida campaign, a critical victory that contributed significantly to Trump’s path to the White House.
In 2018, she was instrumental in Ron DeSantis’s election as governor of Florida. However, her relationship with DeSantis soured, leading him to push Trump’s 2020 campaign to cut ties with her, even as she was again managing Trump’s Florida efforts. Despite this, Wiles eventually became a central figure in Trump’s primary campaign against DeSantis, ultimately helping Trump defeat the Florida governor decisively.
Although Wiles generally kept a low profile, even declining to speak publicly during Trump’s victory celebration, she wasn’t afraid to jump in at grassroots levels. For example, during a Trump event in Iowa last July, Wiles took on volunteer duties by collecting caucus commitments from voters, underscoring her hands-on approach and dedication to Trump’s campaign.
Susie Wiles was able to help control Trump’s worst 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 flouted it. At one point late in the campaign, when Trump gave a widely criticized speech in Pennsylvania in which he strayed from his talking points and suggested he wouldn’t mind the media being shot, Wiles came out to stare at him silently, reported the AP.
A chief of staff serves as the president’s confidant, helping to execute an agenda and balancing competing political and policy priorities. They also tend to serve as gatekeeper, helping determine whom the president spends their time and to whom they speak — an effort under which Trump chafed inside the White House.
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