Susie Wiles: What to know about the US chief of staff and her bombshell Vanity Fair interviews
Donald Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles has hit out at Vanity Fair for publishing an article in which she was quoted as saying the president had an “alcoholic’s personality”.
The unusually candid interview also included quotes that paint an unflattering picture of vice president JD Vance and Elon Musk, who has heavily contributed to the Trump administration.
Ms Wiles, who is known to keep a low profile, claims her words have been taken out of context by the magazine, but hasn’t denied saying them.
Here are the main talking points from the lengthy interviews, a look at the response from Ms Wiles and Mr Trump – as well as everything you need to know about the chief of staff’s background.
What was revealed in the Vanity Fair interview?
The magazine published two articles on 16 December featuring quotes from 11 interviews Ms Wiles has given over the course of Mr Trump’s presidency.
She was quoted as suggesting Mr Trump has “an alcoholic’s personality”, although the president does not drink.
She made the comparison based on her experience with her late father, American footballer Pat Summerall, who was an alcoholic.
Ms Wiles said: “High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities.”
Susie Wiles sits in the Oval Office. Pic: AP
Two quotes reference the idea of Mr Trump seeking retribution.
In March, she suggested she had spoken to Mr Trump about how his presidency was not supposed to be a “retribution tour” against those who he felt had wronged him.
“We have a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over,” she said.
In August, she denied he was on a retribution tour, but added: “In some cases, it may look like retribution. And there may be an element of that from time to time. Who would blame him? Not me.”
She also appeared to call into question Mr Trump’s long-standing stance that Russian President Vladimir Putin can be persuaded to end the war in Ukraine if Kyiv agrees to cede Ukrainian land in the eastern Donbas region.
“The experts think that if he could get the rest of Donetsk, then he would be happy,” Wiles said, referring to the region that is a key part of Donbas.
“Donald Trump thinks he wants the whole country,” she said.
Critical of Bondi’s handling of Epstein
Ms Wiles appeared to criticise Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of the Epstein files, saying she “completely whiffed” aspects of it by failing to manage the expectations of those waiting to see them.
In February, Ms Bondi told reporters that Epstein’s supposed client list was “sitting on my desk right now”, only to later claim there was no list, and that she had been referring to broader files.
Pam Bondi speaks at news conference. Pic: Reuters
A week later, she released “Phase 1” of the declassified Epstein files, which largely contained information that had already been leaked publicly.
Ms Wiles said she had given the public “binders full of nothingness”.
On Mr Trump’s previous claims that former president Bill Clinton frequented Epstein’s infamous island, Ms Wiles said there was “no evidence” those visits happened, adding: “The president was wrong about that.”
Offhand assessments of Trump’s inner circle
She said vice president JD Vance had been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade” and that his MAGA conversion – after he once compared Trump to Adolf Hitler – was “sort of political.”
She described Elon Musk, whose funding was integral to Mr Trump’s election campaign, as “a complete solo actor… an odd, odd duck” and an “avowed ketamine user”.
The billionaire, who briefly oversaw Mr Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has admitted to using prescribed ketamine to treat depression in the past.
She also suggested he had overstepped on his DOGE efforts, saying his gutting of USAID left her “initially aghast”.
“Because I think anybody that pays attention to government and has ever paid attention to USAID believed, as I did, that they do very good work,” she said, adding that “no rational person could think the USAID process was a good one. Nobody.”
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She recalled having to explain to him that “you can’t just lock people out of their offices” when he was making government workers redundant.
Ms Wiles labelled health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is known to buy into conspiracies, as “quirky Bobby”, and White House budget chief Russell Vought “a right-wing absolute zealot.”
She later praised Mr Kennedy Jr’s impact, alluding to her view of the administration’s hard-liners overall, saying: “He pushes the envelope – some would say too far. But I say in order to get back to the middle, you have to push it too far.”
What have Wiles and Trump said after the interviews?
Donald Trump brings Ms Wiles to the podium at an election night watch party. Pic: AP
In a statement on X, Ms Wiles claimed the magazine had published a “disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history”.
“Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the president was left out of the story,” she said.
“I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the president and our team.
“The truth is the Trump White House has already accomplished more in eleven months than any other president has accomplished in eight years and that is due to the unmatched leadership and vision of President Trump, for whom I have been honoured to work for the better part of a decade.”
Speaking to the New York Post, Mr Trump defended his chief of staff, saying he has made similar assessments about himself when it comes to having an “alcoholic’s personality”.
“I’ve said that many times about myself. I’m fortunate I’m not a drinker,” he said, adding he had an “addictive type personality”.
He said he hadn’t read the article, but added: “I think from what I hear, the facts were wrong, and it was a very misguided interviewer, purposely misguided.”
He said he thought Ms Wiles had done “a fantastic job” in her role.
What is Susie Wiles’s role?
Pic: AP
Susie Wiles was the first major appointment Mr Trump announced after his second election win, making her his White House chief of staff and closest adviser.
She is the first woman in history to take up the role, which is one of the most important non-elected posts in Washington.
She is responsible for directing, managing and overseeing all policy development, daily operations, and staff activities for the president.
In his victory speech, Mr Trump described her as an “ice maiden” and credited her with his “best-run” campaign.
Historically, those in the role have been seen as gatekeepers for the president, but Ms Wiles has pushed back on that, previously saying she wants the president to have “more inputs, not less”.
Speaking to Vanity Fair for its pieces on Ms Wiles, Mr Vance said she broke the mould of previous chiefs of staff by acting as “a facilitator” for Mr Trump, helping to “make his vision come to life”.
Daughter of an American footballer
Ms Wiles grew up in New Jersey. Her father was the late American footballer Pat Summerall.
Before his death in 2013, he credited her with helping him get sober and attend an alcohol rehab programme.
“I hadn’t been there much for my kids,” he wrote in his memoir. “But Susan’s letter made it clear that I’d hurt them even in my absence.”
Ms Wiles’s first job in politics was in the 1970s as an assistant to the late Jack Kemp, who became a Republican representative for New York after playing alongside her father at the New York Giants.
Pic: AP
She was later part of Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign and subsequently worked as a White House scheduler during his term.
Following the Reagan administration, in 1988 she worked on the vice-presidential campaign for George H W Bush’s deputy Dan Quayle.
Having moved to Florida, she worked as an adviser to two Jacksonville mayors.
Outside politics she has worked in the private sector as a lobbyist, for Ballard Partners, whose clients include Amazon, Google, and the MLB (Major League Baseball), and then Mercury, who works with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the Embassy of Qatar.
On her appointment to the Trump team, Mercury chief executive Keiran Mahoney said: “This is great news for the country. Susie has been a valued colleague. We are all proud of her and wish her the best.”
From DeSantis to Trump
In recent years, Ms Wiles has worked for some of the Republicans’ more divisive figures.
After helping Rick Scott become governor of Florida in 2010, she worked on Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign there.
With the Sunshine State win credited with helping Mr Trump take the White House, Ms Wiles was brought in to help Ron DeSantis’s ailing campaign to replace Mr Scott as governor in 2018.
The pair are reported to have fallen out after he was elected, which was seemingly confirmed when Ms Wiles was in charge of Mr Trump’s 2024 bid. Mr DeSantis was up against Mr Trump in the primaries, but was widely ridiculed and forced to pull out early on.
It was later claimed that Ms Wiles was behind some of the media stories that made fun of Mr DeSantis.
Pic: AP
‘Ice maiden’
Although unsuccessful, Mr Trump credited Ms Wiles with being an “integral” part of his second presidential bid in 2020.
She was co-manager of his effort the third time alongside Chris LaCivita.
After her appointment as chief of staff, he described her as the “perfect pick” with a “master ability to manage multiple things of significance simultaneously”.
During the campaign, she also lobbied for the tobacco company Swisher International.
Throughout her decades-long political career, Ms Wiles has stayed out of the limelight and scarcely engaged with the media.
Speaking to the Tampa Bay Times in 2016, she hit back at criticism of Mr Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric.
“I will tell you this: the Donald Trump that I have come to know does not behave that way, and the lens that I look at him through, I don’t see any of that. I see strengths, I see smarts, I see a work ethic that is unparalleled,” she told the newspaper.
She is believed to have been behind the campaign material that targeted Latino and black voters, who were key in taking votes from the Democrats.
At a rally in Milwaukee in 2024, Mr Trump said: “She’s incredible. Incredible.”
US
US launches ‘large scale’ strikes to ‘eliminate’ Islamic State fighters in Syria after US citizens killed in desert
The US has launched strikes to “eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites” in Syria, according to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
A U.S. official described it as “a large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons.
“This is not the beginning of a war – it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people,” he said in a social media post.
The announcement came after three US citizens – two National Guard members and a civilian interpreter – were killed in an attack in the Syrian desert on 13 December. Three US personnel were also wounded, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson said on X.
US President Donald Trump blamed the killings on Islamic State fighters.
“Because of ISIS’s vicious killing of brave American Patriots in Syria, whose beautiful souls I welcomed home to American soil earlier this week in a very dignified ceremony, I am hereby announcing that the United States is inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“We are striking very strongly against ISIS strongholds in Syria, a place soaked in blood which has many problems, but one that has a bright future if ISIS can be eradicated.”
Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth salute as the remains of the three US citizens killed in Syria arrive at Dover Air Force Base. Pic: AP
He said the Syrian government was fully supportive of the US strikes against the Islamic State, warning that fighters “will be hit harder than you have ever been hit before”.
A US official told The Associated Press that the US strike on Islamic State fighters on Friday was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thuderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected.
New photos of the people in Jeffrey Epstein’s circle are among thousands of documents released by the US Department of Justice.
The tranche of material relating to the dead paedophile financier was made public shortly after 9pm UK time – hours before a legal deadline in the US following the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
They include images of his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a prison sentence after she was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with Epstein in 2021.
Follow live updates: What’s in latest documents
In one picture, she is seen posing outside 10 Downing Street, while in another, she is pictured in a swimming pool with Bill Clinton and a woman, whose face has been obscured.
Jeffrey Epstein and Michael Jackson. Pic: US DoJ
Painting of Bill Clinton in a dress. Pic: US DoJ
The former US president is also pictured in a hot tub with an unidentified woman in another picture, while a separate image shows a painting of Mr Clinton wearing a blue dress with red high heels.
The context of the photos is unknown and being identified in the files does not suggest any wrongdoing.
Ghislaine Maxwell outside of 10 Downing Street, date unknown. Pic: US Department of Justice
Photos of Bill Clinton. Pics: US DoJ
In his 2024 memoir, Citizen: My Life After The White House, Mr Clinton wrote: “The bottom line is, even though it allowed me to visit the work of my foundation, travelling on Epstein’s plane was not worth the years of questioning afterward. I wish I had never met him.”
Many of the documents in the release have been heavily redacted, including a “masseuse list”, in which all 254 entries have been blacked out.
All 119 pages of a grand jury document are redacted in their entirety, while scores of women’s portraits, many of which appear to show them in sexual positions or are titled “nude”, are blacked out.
There are also handwritten notes, flight logs, and a contact book.
Another file features a scrapbook featuring pictures of Epstein and redacted pictures of women, with the caption on one page: “Is my cover blown?”
A scrapbook. Pic: US DoJ
![A note from Jeffrey Epstein that reads "For a good time call [REDACTED]". Pic: US DoJ](https://e3.365dm.com/25/12/768x432/skynews-jeffrey-epstein-epstein-files_7115456.png?20251219224257)
A note from Jeffrey Epstein that reads “For a good time call [REDACTED]”. Pic: US DoJ
Ghislaine Maxwell and Mick Jagger, date unknown. Pic US DoJ
Ghislaine Maxwell and Chris Tucker. Pic: US DoJ
The US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, said in a letter to Congress that more than 1,200 victims and their families were identified during a review of the records, which have been redacted to protect victims.
Celebrities including the late Michael Jackson, Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger, Motown singer Diana Ross and comedian Chris Tucker are among those pictured in the files. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by them.
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Ghislaine Maxwell with redacted women. Pic: US DoJ
Sarah Ferguson with a man blurred by Sky News, date unknown. Pic: US DoJ
Sarah Ferguson with a redacted woman, date unknown. Pic: US DoJ
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles following controversy over his relationship with Epstein, and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, also appear.
The former duke has been dogged by allegations that he sexually assaulted then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre after she was trafficked by Epstein. He has always denied the accusations and any wrongdoing.
He paid millions to Ms Giuffre, whom he claims to have never met, to settle a civil sexual assault claim in 2022.
In one picture from the newly released files, the former prince is seen lying across five women, whose faces have been redacted, while Maxwell is stood behind smiling. It is not known where or when the photo was taken.
Several charities cut ties with Ms Ferguson after it emerged she had written a gushing message to Epstein, describing him as her “supreme friend”. Her spokesperson said she wrote the note because he had threatened to sue her.
Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein with a man blurred by Sky News. Pic: US DoJ
Another Epstein associate, Lord Mandelson, is pictured with the late sex offender blowing the candles out on a birthday cake. It is a picture that has been published before.
Lord Mandelson was fired as the ambassador to the US in September over his links to Epstein.
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Democrats have shared more pictures from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, a day before the government’s deadline for the full release.
The 68 photos published on Thursday are among more than 95,000 images that the House Oversight Committee Democrats said they were reviewing.
They said the images were “selected to provide the public with transparency into a representative sample of the photos” and to “provide insights into Epstein’s network and his extremely disturbing activities”.
Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
But the Democrats added that they are still analysing thousands more images that are “both graphic and mundane”.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of those pictured in the images – and the context surrounding the photos is not known.
Mystery text quotes price for ‘girl’
The latest cache includes a text message appearing to discuss the price for a girl.
It isn’t clear who sent the messages and to whom, but the screenshot shows some details on an unidentified girl, described as a teenager here.
“I will send u girls now,” one of the texts read.
Pic: @OversightDems
Writing on body
Several pictures show handwritten messages on a person’s body.
One appears to be quoting the opening paragraph of the book Lolita – which can be seen in the background of the picture.
The book was written by Vladimir Nabokov and tells the story of a girl groomed by a middle-aged literature professor.
Another shows writing on a foot, which reads: “She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock.”
The writing appears to be quoting the opening paragraph of the book Lolita. Pic: @OversightDems
Another handwritten message. Pic: @OversightDems
Other messages can be seen on the neck, hip, back and chest, with the latter reading: “The tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down”.
In a different image, Epstein is pictured with three girls in his house in New York. One appears to be touching Epstein’s chest, one is holding her wrist up and another is looking at a laptop.
The identity of the women has been hidden.
Epstein with three women whose faces have been redacted. Pic: @OversightDems
Epstein with high-profile figures
Some high-profile figures also appear in the newly released images, with one showing Epstein sitting alongside Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousef Bin Jassim Bin Jabor al Thani.
He is the chairman and director of several privately established companies and is a member of the Qatari royal family.
Epstein with Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousef Bin Jassim Bin Jabor al Thani. Pic: @OversightDems
Another image shows Epstein with the former president of the UN General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak, who held the role between 2017 and 2018. He is also a former Slovakian foreign affairs minister.
Last month, he told TASR news agency: “The reopening of the Epstein case occurred after I left New York, and the full extent of his inexcusable actions, which I strongly condemn, only came to light after his arrest.”
Miroslav Lajcak, former president of the UN General Assembly, next to Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
Shaher Abdulhak, a deceased Yemeni billionaire businessman whose son is a suspect in the murder of a Norwegian woman in Mayfair, was also pictured with Epstein.
His son, Farouk Abdulhak, fled to Yemen after the rape and death of Martine Vik Magnussen in March 2008 and has been wanted for questioning ever since.
Ms Magnussen was found dead among rubble in a basement in Great Portland Street.
She and her friends had been celebrating finishing their end-of-term exams at the Maddox nightclub before she vanished. Her body was found two days later.
Deceased Yemeni billionaire Shaher Abdulhak with Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
Epstein and Steve Bannon. Pic: @OversightDems
Also featured in the newly released images were former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, magician David Blaine, businessman Tom Pritzker, billionaire Bill Gates, director Woody Allen, talk show host Dick Cavett, Trump ally Steve Bannon, and Kuwait’s former information minister Anas al Rasheed.
Photos of identity documents with redacted names were also published, including one with text saying that “the bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor”, which could belong to convicted sex offender Epstein.
Also among the identification documents is a heavily redacted Russian passport. It belongs to a female, but other information has been blocked out.
The release also includes ID documents from the Czech Republic, South Africa, Ukraine, and Lithuania.
One passport appeared to belong to someone ‘convicted of a sex offense against a minor’. Pic: @OversightDems
Epstein’s passport. Pic: @OversightDems
Deadline looming
The picture drop came a day before the deadline set by a bipartisan bill that compels the US Justice Department to release the Epstein files within 30 days, which was signed into law by US President Donald Trump last month.
Mr Trump had promised to release the Epstein files during his ultimately successful presidential campaign, but he later made a U-turn, even going as far as calling the Epstein files a Democratic “hoax”, before eventually changing path again to sign the bill.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said ahead of the deadline that he believes the Department of Justice will release the files in time, and warned that there will be “strong bipartisan pushback” if they don’t.
“Based on my conversations with some of the top Democrats who’ve been working on this matter, related to full and complete disclosure of the Epstein files, we do expect compliance,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Full release going ‘down to the wire’
National security lawyers inside the Department of Justice are “working down to the wire” as Friday’s deadline for the full release of the Epstein files edges closer, according to Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews.
He said those lawyers are mulling “how much is actually divulged in these documents”.
“There will be redactions… the question is, how far short of everything? How far short of the full story will the release fall?” Matthews said.
“The issue at the heart of it… where does Donald Trump feature? Remember, he emphatically denies all knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities and any involvement in them.”
Read more:
Releasing the Epstein files: How we got here
Ghislaine Maxwell attempts to overturn conviction
‘Frustration building’
Meanwhile, frustration is building at the justice department ahead of the release, according to CNN.
A source has told the US broadcaster that there could be up to 1,000 redactions needed from each attorney.
Lawyers reportedly believe they aren’t getting clear or comprehensive direction on how to make the most information available under the law.
A previous batch of images featured more high-profile figures, including Donald Trump, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Bill Clinton, British entrepreneur Richard Branson, Emirati businessman Ahmed bin Sulayem, and singer Jimmy Buffett.
Several images of a sexual nature have also been released, including a picture of a bowl of novelty condoms with a caricature of Mr Trump’s face, and various sex toys.
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