White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has publicly challenged a Vanity Fair article that portrays the Trump administration in what she characterizes as a deliberately negative light. The 68-year-old political strategist, who made history as the first woman to hold the key West Wing position, took to social media platform X to accuse the publication of creating “an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative” by omitting “significant context” from her extensive interviews.
The controversial profile, based on nearly a dozen conversations with Wiles, contained startling character assessments of prominent administration figures. Wiles described former President Donald Trump as possessing “an alcoholic’s personality” despite his teetotalism, drawing parallels to her childhood experiences with an alcoholic father. She suggested this background made her particularly adept at handling strong personalities, noting Trump governs with the conviction that “there’s nothing he can’t do.”
Regarding Vice President JD Vance, Wiles referenced his past as a “conspiracy theorist” for approximately a decade before his political transformation into a Trump ally. When questioned by reporters, Vance responded that he only believes in conspiracy theories that are “true,” citing reports about President Joe Biden’s health as an example.
The most pointed criticisms were reserved for tech billionaire Elon Musk, who briefly led cost-cutting initiatives at the Department of Government Efficiency before departing in May. Wiles characterized Musk as an “avowed Ketamine [user]” who slept in a sleeping bag in the Executive Office Building and described him as an “odd, odd duck” whose approach to government restructuring was fundamentally flawed.
She specifically criticized Musk’s efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), stating she was “initially aghast” at the proposal. While acknowledging Musk’s drive for rapid execution, Wiles asserted that “no rational person could think the USAID process was a good one.”
The White House has rallied behind Wiles following the article’s publication. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement praising Wiles for helping Trump achieve “the most successful first 11 months in office of any President in American history” and emphasizing that the entire administration stands “united fully behind her.” Neither Trump nor Musk has publicly commented on the Vanity Fair piece.