Trump allies defend Susie Wiles over blunt quotes in Vanity Fair

Washington — President Trump's Cabinet secretaries and different apical medication officials jumped to White House main of unit Susie Wiles' defence connected Tuesday aft Vanity Fair published a lengthy piece featuring her blunt appraisal of the president's interior circle, his archetypal twelvemonth successful bureau and the president himself. 

The two-part story, written by writer Chris Whipple, features quotes from 11 interviews that Whipple conducted with Wiles from Jan. 11 to Nov. 5.

According to Vanity Fair, Wiles said the president, who doesn't drink, has "an alcoholic's personality."

"High-functioning alcoholics oregon alcoholics successful general, their personalities are exaggerated erstwhile they drink," Wiles said, according to Vanity Fair. "And truthful I'm a small spot of an adept successful large personalities." Wiles was quoted arsenic saying the president operates with the presumption that there's "nothing helium can't do. Nothing, zero, nothing."

Wiles was quoted arsenic saying Vice President JD Vance has "been a conspiracy theorist for a decade," and that Attorney General Pam Bondi "completely whiffed" connected her handling of the Epstein files. She besides criticized Elon Musk and the mode the U.S. Agency for International Development was shuttered successful the aboriginal months of the administration. 

"No rational idiosyncratic could deliberation the USAID process was a bully one," she said successful the story. "Nobody."

In a post connected X, her archetypal successful much than a year, Wiles, 68, called the communicative a "disingenuously framed deed portion connected maine and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet successful history."

White House main of unit Susie Wiles listens arsenic President Trump speaks successful the Oval Office of the White House connected Feb. 4, 2025. Evan Vucci / AP

"Significant discourse was disregarded and overmuch of what I, and others, said astir the squad and the President was near retired of the story," she wrote. "I assume, aft speechmaking it, that this was done to overgarment an overwhelmingly chaotic and antagonistic communicative astir the President and our team."

Wiles' connection did not contradict that she was accurately quoted. CBS News has asked Vanity Fair for immoderate further remark and whether the work volition beryllium releasing a transcript oregon audio of the interviews.

Wiles, a longtime governmental operative successful Florida, became the archetypal woman to service arsenic White House main of unit erstwhile Mr. Trump took bureau successful January. She was named to Forbes' 2025 database of the World's Most Powerful Women earlier this month. 

Top medication officials came to Wiles' defence aft the Vanity Fair communicative was published, with White House property caput Karoline Leavitt reposting galore of their comments. 

Office of Management and Budget manager Russ Vought, whom Wiles called a "right-wing implicit zealot" successful the story, called Wiles "an exceptional main of staff." 

"In my portfolio, she is ever an state successful helping maine present for the president," Vought wrote connected X. "And this deed portion volition not dilatory america down."

Despite Wiles' disapproval of her handling of the Epstein files, Bondi wrote connected X: "My beloved person Susie Wiles fights each time to beforehand President Trump's docket – and she does truthful with grace, loyalty, and historical effectiveness. Any effort to disagreement this medication volition fail. Any effort to undermine and downplay President Trump's monumental achievements volition fail. We are family. We are united."

"This is what the Left does: trash & smear our champion & astir effectual people," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote. "They bash it to President Trump regular — and present to Chief Susie Wiles. Susie is the astir TRUSTED, astir PROFESSIONAL & astir EFFECTIVE Chief of Staff of my lifetime. Absolutely cipher better!"

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote that the "radical near is astatine it again, trying to make discord connected President Trump's team," adding that "It won't enactment due to the fact that we cognize & love Susie Wiles."

The president has not yet responded to the piece. 

The vice president was asked astir the "conspiracy theorist" remark by reporters during a travel to Pennsylvania. Vance said helium hadn't work the nonfiction yet but had heard astir it.

"Sometimes I americium a conspiracy theorist, but I lone judge successful the conspiracy theories that are true," Vance said.

"And by the way, Susie and I person joked successful backstage and successful nationalist astir that for a agelong time," Vance continued. "For example, I believed successful the brainsick conspiracy mentation backmost successful 2020 that it was anserine to disguise three-year-olds astatine the tallness of the COVID pandemic, that we should really fto them make immoderate connection skills. I believed successful this brainsick conspiracy mentation that the media and the authorities were covering up the information that Joe Biden was intelligibly incapable to bash the job."

He added: "If immoderate of america person learned a acquisition from that Vanity Fair article, I anticipation that the acquisition is we should beryllium giving less interviews to mainstream media outlets."