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U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has tapped his 2024 campaign manager to run his administration. According to a news release from the newly created Trump-Vance transition office, the former/future president has selected Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff.
Come January 20, 2025, Wiles would become the first woman ever to hold what is arguably the most important position in a presidential administration. Thirty-one chiefs of staff have run White Houses for fourteen presidents over the past sixty-eight years, when the position was first created.
Trump had four chiefs of staff – including former South Carolina congressman Mick Mulvaney.
“Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history, and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns,” Trump said in announcing Wiles as his choice. “Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again. It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female chief of staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”
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Trump invited Wiles onstage as he declared victory earlier this week.
“Susie likes to stay sort of in the back,” Trump said. “The ice baby. We call her the ice baby. Susie likes to stay in the background.”
Vice-president-elect JD Vance also praised Wiles’ selection.
“Susie was a huge asset to president Trump on the campaign and will be a huge asset in the White House,” he wrote on X. “She’s also just a really good person.”
Trump’s 2016 Florida director, Wiles has also worked for Florida governor Ron DeSantis. She has decades of experience in presidential politics, including a stint as the campaign scheduler for president Ronald Reagan.
The chief of staff is the president’s gatekeeper, serving as his liaison between staff, congress and leaders of executive branch agencies. She is also his closest advisor and is responsible for maintaining his schedule.
In keeping with its importance, the chief of staff is typically the first appointment an incoming president makes following his election. Unlike cabinet directors and other high-level positions, however, the chief of staff does not require the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. That likely wouldn’t be a problem for Trump, however, as the GOP won at least a two-vote majority in that chamber this week – flipping three seats with two races yet to be called.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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5 comments
Good for her. Well deserved.
“A wave of racist text messages summoning Black people to report for slavery showed up on phones across the United States, prompting the scrutiny of the FBI,” the New York Times reports.
“The NAACP said that messages were received in nine states, and attorneys general in two other states reported the same on Thursday.”
And so it begins.
Upset democrats continuing their shenanigans.
So how many chiefs of staff do we think Trump will go through in the first year, if he makes it that long…
Will it be worse than the revolving door of workers who worked for Harris? It’s well known that she was a witch to work for. As Attorney General in California she expected everyone to say “Good morning General” when she walked in in the morning, that only senior staff members were allowed to talk to her, and junior staff members were not allowed to make eye contact with her. Do you think she changed when she moved to Washington?