Trump and top aides publicly defend chief of staff Susie Wiles after explosive interviews

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump and his top aides rushed to publicly defend Ms Susie Wiles, his chief of staff, on Dec 16 after a magazine published a series of candid interviews with her, in which she made critical comments about some of the US President’s top aides and opened up about disagreements she has had with Mr Trump.

Vanity Fair published a two-part article after Ms Wiles participated in 11 interviews with Mr Chris Whipple, the author of a book on White House chiefs of staff. Ms Wiles and several top White House officials also sat for individual and group portraits for the magazine.

In the interviews, Ms Wiles described Mr Trump as having “an alcoholic’s personality”
, disputed the US President’s characterisation of the Epstein files, said she tried to restrain Mr Trump on Jan 6 pardons and suggested that the US President seemed intent on regime change in Venezuela.

Ms Wiles, who rarely posts on social media, criticised the article as a “disingenuously framed hit piece” in a post on social platform X, but she did not deny the authenticity of the quotes.

Mr Trump, in an interview with The New York Post, said he did not read the article but praised Ms Wiles as doing “a fantastic job”. He also did not challenge Ms Wiles’ description of his personality.

“No, she meant that I’m – you see, I don’t drink alcohol,” he told the Post. “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.”

In the hours after the article was published, more than a dozen members of his Cabinet posted defences of Ms Wiles on their social media accounts.

US Vice-President J.D. Vance, who was speaking to reporters on Dec 16 in Pennsylvania after giving remarks on the economy, was asked about Ms Wiles and her characterisation of him as a conspiracy theorist.

He said that he had not read the articles but that “sometimes, I am a conspiracy theorist, but I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true”. He added that he and Ms Wiles have had their disagreements, “but I’ve never seen her be disloyal to the President of the United States”.

Mr Russell Vought, the White House Office of Management and Budget director whom Ms Wiles called “a right-wing absolute zealot”, praised her as “exceptional” and “an ally in helping me deliver for the President”.

US Attorney-General Pam Bondi, who Ms Wiles said “completely whiffed” in handling the Epstein files, called Ms Wiles a “dear friend” and said she worked to advance Mr Trump’s agenda with “grace, loyalty and historic effectiveness”.

“Any attempt to undermine and downplay President Trump’s monumental achievements will fail,” she wrote on X. “We are family. We are united.”

Mr Donald Trump Jr, the US President’s son, called Ms Wiles “by far, the most effective and trustworthy” chief of staff that his father has ever had.

“I very rarely speak out about my father’s staffers, but there is no one on Earth more equipped to serve my father as Chief of Staff than Susie,” he wrote on X. NYTIMES