Susie Wiles' journey to be Trump's gatekeeper
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Donald Trump praises his campaign co-manager Susie Wiles on Wednesday in West Palm Beach, Fla. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
GOP operative Susie Wiles is widely viewed as the person most responsible for keeping Donald Trump's 2024 campaign more organized than his previous efforts. Come January, she'll have the second most important job in the White House.
Why it matters: As Trump's chief of staff, Wiles will bring a low-profile, calm but firm leadership style to a position that saw frequent turnover and tension during Trump's first administration.
- Wiles has shown a rare ability to keep the president-elect on message — as much as that can be done, at least. She's the only person to have worked as his campaign manager for a whole campaign.
Driving the news: Now the veteran of Florida politics will take on a gig that will test her ability to keep her boss focused — and be a gatekeeper to try to prevent distractions out of the Oval Office.
- Wiles, who will be the first woman to be White House chief of staff, has surfed through the frequent drama of Trump's world in part by staying out of disputes involving him and others, and focusing on his messaging and strategy.
- "She provides stability and infrastructure and she's respected by everyone in Trump's orbit and beyond," a GOP strategist told Axios.
Zoom in: On the campaign trail, Wiles quietly worked to keep particularly divisive, fringe conservatives out of Trump's orbit — or to ease them out if they gained access to him.
- When Trump wanted to hire far-right activist Laura Loomer last year, Wiles sat in on her interview with Trump — and made sure she wasn't hired.
- Loomer still managed to have a brief presence on the campaign trail during the early fall, concerning some of Trump's allies and top advisers who worked to keep some of the most extreme members of the party at bay. But before long, Loomer was removed from Trump's traveling team.
Between the lines: In an expansive profile by Politico's Michael Kruse earlier this year, Wiles said that "the GOP of today is different" from when she first joined politics, when things "like manners mattered and there was an expected level of decorum."
- "I haven't, and likely won't, fully adapt. I don't curse. I'm polite. It's not who I am," she said.
- "But people either know that I'm a solid person, and I hope many do, or they don't and judge me by my work for President Trump."
The big picture: The daughter of the late sports broadcaster Pat Summerall, Wiles worked on several Florida campaigns, including Rick Scott's successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign and Trump's state operations in 2016 and 2020.
- Her extensive background in Florida politics has helped her forge relationships with Republicans inside and outside of Trump's inner circle.
- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who ran for the GOP nomination in 2016 against Trump, said Wiles was a "great choice" for White House chief of staff.
Wiles worked on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2018 gubernatorial campaign, before the two parted ways. DeSantis then discouraged Trump's campaign from hiring her for 2020.
- Trump hired her anyway, and she helped lead the ex-president's primary campaign against DeSantis, who initially was seen as a top contender for the GOP nomination.
- Before DeSantis dropped out of the race, Wiles showed that she hadn't forgotten about their rift. "Bye, bye," she wrote in a post on X.
Go deeper: Top Trump advisers try to steer him off personal drama
