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Who is Susie Wiles, Trump’s new White House chief of staff?
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Who is Susie Wiles, Trump’s new White House chief of staff?

FILE-Susie Wiles talks with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after he was declared the winner during an election night event at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washi

Susie Wiles has been named President-elect Donald Trump’s new White House chief of staff.

Wiles would become the first woman to serve in the important role of advisor and closest advocate to the president.

Here’s what you need to know about Wiles.

Who is Susie Wiles?

Susie Wiles, the daughter of NFL player and sportscaster Pat Summerall, worked in the Washington office of New York Representative Jack Kemp in the 1970s. Wiles also worked in Ronald Reagan’s campaign and in the White House as a planner.

RELATED: Trump names Susie Wiles chief of staff; 1st woman to occupy this role

Wiles traveled to Florida and advised two Jacksonville mayors and worked for Rep. Tillie Fowler. Wiles was also credited with helping businessman Rick Scott win the governorship.

She briefly managed Utah Governor Jon Huntsman’s 2012 presidential campaign and managed Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in Florida, when his victory in the state helped him clinch the White House, reported the Associated Press.

Wiles avoids the spotlight – most of the time

Susie Wiles is one of the few senior officials to survive an entire Trump campaign and was part of the team that put together a more professional operation for his third White House bid. Wiles avoided the spotlight, even refusing to speak as Trump celebrated his election victory early Wednesday morning.

According to the AP, Wiles demonstrated that she did not hesitate to take on volunteer tasks. During one of Trump’s 2023 Iowa appearances, as Trump posed for photos with voters, Wiles grabbed a clipboard and began approaching individuals waiting to ask them to fill out cards of Trump’s caucus pledge during the first primary race.

In a few other posts on X in 2024, Wiles responded after billionaire Mark Cuban said Trump didn’t have “strong, intelligent women” in his orbit. After Wiles was selected as White House chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Trump supporter, joked about X that the president-elect had chosen a “strong, intelligent woman” as his chief of staff.

Wiles worked with Ron DeSantis

Susie Wiles helped elect Ron DeSantis as governor of Florida. The AP reported that DeSantis and Wiles developed a rift that led DeSantis to urge Trump’s 2020 campaign to cut ties with Wiles, as she was once again running the then-president’s state campaign.

Wiles had only posted three times on X, formerly Twitter, this year at the time of his announcement. Before DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January, Wiles hopped on social media to respond to a post that DeSantis had cleared his campaign website of upcoming events with a short but clear message: “At goodbye “.

Can Wiles control Trump’s impulses?

Susie Wiles knew how to manage Donald Trump’s impulses by earning his respect and showing him that he was better off when he followed his advice.

The AP noted that during later stages of his campaign, when Trump gave a speech in Pennsylvania in which he walked away from his talking points and suggested that he would not mind if the media were dejected, Wiles came out to watch him in silence.

The president-elect frequently referred to Wiles on the campaign trail, praising his leadership for what he said was his “best-run campaign.” “She’s amazing. Amazing,” Trump said at a rally in Milwaukee in November.

Will Wiles manage to stay in power as Trump’s chief of staff?

During his first administration, Donald Trump went through four chiefs of staff. According to the AP, a chief of staff is the president’s confidant, helping to implement an agenda and balance competing political and strategic priorities. They also tend to serve as gatekeepers, helping to determine who the president spends his time with and who he speaks to.

The AP noted that Trump said he thought the biggest mistake of his first term was hiring the wrong people. The former president was new to Washington, D.C., then, he said, and didn’t know any better. But now, Trump says, he knows the “best people” and those to avoid when it comes to getting a job.