Excerpts from a new interview with one of President Donald Trump’s closest aides seem to confirm much of the chaos, pettiness and questionable decision-making that critics have called out since Trump returned to the White House. The bitingly honest comments now have the administration attempting to downplay the inside perspective, even as Trump’s chief of staff attempts to dispute her own words.
Frank descriptions of Trump, cabinet
In excerpts from a series of interviews with Vanity Fair, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles gives what appear to be unfiltered opinions about Trump and his top officials and associates. As the New York Times reports, the remarks came from nearly a dozen interviews Wiles gave to Vanity Fair. In her comments, Wiles described Vice President JD Vance as having “been a conspiracy theorist for a decade” and described his shift from anti-Trump to pro-Trump as a “sort of political” move for his run for Senate. Wiles called White House Budget Director Russell T. Vought a “right-wing absolute zealot.” Trump’s chief of staff described the president as having “an alcoholic’s personality,” comparing Trump — who does not drink — to her own late father, sportscaster Pat Summerall. Describing alcoholics as having “exaggerated” personalities, Wiles said that Trump holds “a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”
Trump’s unsound policies and political retribution
Wiles presented herself as someone who faithfully serves Trump and pushes his agenda, even when she disagrees — as she did with Trump’s tariff policies or his blanket January 6 pardons. Wiles also said she advised Trump to limit the extent to which he used his office to go after political foes like former FBI Director James Comey. She did not advise him to back off his prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who Wiles said “had a half a billion dollars of his money,” in reference to a civil case that James won against Trump before the financial penalty was tossed on appeal.
Overall, Wiles said she did not think Trump “wakes up thinking about retribution. But when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.” For some political foes, Wiles acknowledged Trump “was wrong” about former President Bill Clinton being implicated in criminal activity in the so-called Epstein files; Wiles also acknowledged that Trump appears in the files but claims “he’s not in the file doing anything awful.”
Wiles, cabinet in damage control mode
The unusually critical remarks from a top White House official have sent the administration into a concerted effort of damage control. Multiple Trump cabinet members and allies posted messages praising Wiles and attacking the media in what appears to be a coordinated effort to deal with the negative publicity surrounding the remarks Wiles has made.
Wiles herself has also taken issue with the reporting of her comments, saying her words were taken out of context or disputing some quotes altogether. For example, Wiles told the New York Times on Monday that she does not remember commenting that former top Trump advisor Elon Musk is “an avowed ketamine” user.
“That’s ridiculous,” she said. “I wouldn’t have said that and I wouldn’t know,” Wiles claimed — before being played a tape of her making the remark.
Despite Wiles attempting to walk back her words, her comments to Vanity Fair seem to represent a rare moment of honesty from a top White House official about Trump and the people surrounding him. While Wiles and other members of the Trump administration are publicly declaring their support for Trump and his chief of staff, Wiles has confirmed for many the dysfunction of the Trump White House.