President Donald Trump says he supports his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, after Vanity Fair published an interview in which Wiles revealed tensions within the Trump administration and painted an unflattering picture of the role played by some of the president’s chiefs of staff.
President Trump, who has regularly described Wiles as “the most powerful woman in the world,” told the New York Post on Tuesday that he has full confidence in his chief of staff and that she has “done a great job.”
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Vanity Fair published two articles based on the interview, giving insight into what Wiles thinks about other key figures in Trump’s second term.
Wiles described Trump as having an “alcoholic personality” and a desire for revenge against his perceived enemies.
“He has an alcoholic personality,” Wiles said of Trump, explaining that growing up with an alcoholic father prepared him to manage a “big personality.”
She pointed out that President Trump doesn’t drink, but he acts with the mindset that “there’s nothing I can’t do, nothing, nothing.”
President Trump defended Wiles, saying he was correct in personally describing Wiles as having an “alcoholic personality,” even though he doesn’t drink alcohol.
“I’ve often said that if that happens, there’s a very good chance you’ll become an alcoholic,” Trump said. “I’ve said it many times about myself, I do. It’s a very possessive personality,” he said.
Wiles suggested that Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, was unable to clearly read the public’s situation when the administration did not quickly follow through on its promise to share information about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“First of all, she gave them an empty binder,” Wiles said of Bondy, noting that Vice President J.D. Vance, himself a “conspiracy theorist,” had a better understanding of how important this issue was to some people.
Regarding Trump’s inclusion in Epstein’s files, Wiles said, “I know he’s in the files,” but insisted the files don’t show him doing “anything terrible.”
Wiles referenced other members of the Trump administration, calling White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought an “absolute right-wing fanatic” and branding tech mogul Elon Musk a “weird, weird duck,” Vanity Fair reported.
On Ukraine, Wiles said Trump believes Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants the whole country,” even though Washington is seeking a peace deal.
Wiles also asserted that President Trump intends to continue bombing alleged drug smuggling ships off the coast of Venezuela until the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, cries out, “Uncle.”
In a post to X, Wiles called the Vanity Fair article “a hit piece that disingenuously framed me and the greatest president, White House staff, and Cabinet members in history,” and said it omitted important context and selectively quoted her words to create a negative narrative.
Other members of President Trump’s inner circle also defended Wiles after the article was published.
Vance said in a speech in Pennsylvania that Wiles has “joked privately and publicly” about his belief in conspiracy theories.
“We disagree and we agree on more things than we disagree, but I have never seen her be disloyal to the president of the United States,” Vance said.
White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing that Wiles was “unbelievable,” accusing Vanity Fair of “bias of omission,” and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said “there is absolutely no one better than this!” on X. than Wiles.
