Susie Wiles, the notoriously press-shy White House Chief of Staff known as Trump’s “Ice Maiden,” just gave Vanity Fair a series of interviews that read less like damage control and more like an exit interview. And now she’s furiously backpedaling, calling it a “disingenuously framed hit piece.”
The problem? Nobody’s disputing what she actually said.
In more than 10 interviews with author Chris Whipple conducted throughout Trump’s first year back in office, Wiles delivered a devastating insider’s assessment of the Trump White House—describing her teetotaling boss as having “an alcoholic’s personality,” calling VP JD Vance “a conspiracy theorist for a decade,” and ripping Attorney General Pam Bondi for “completely whiffing” on the Epstein files.
The “Alcoholic’s Personality” Comment That Can’t Be Walked Back
Wiles opened up about growing up with her father, legendary sportscaster Pat Summerall, who battled alcoholism before getting sober 21 years before his death in 2013. She then drew an explicit parallel to Trump’s behavior.
“High-functioning alcoholics, or alcoholics in general, have exaggerated personalities when they drink,” Wiles told Vanity Fair. “And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities.”
The comparison is particularly jarring given that Trump’s older brother, Fred Trump Jr., died from complications related to alcoholism—a tragedy that reportedly influenced Donald Trump’s lifelong abstinence from alcohol.
Wiles added: “He operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”
Vance, Vought, and Musk Get the Treatment
Wiles didn’t stop with Trump. Her assessment of Vice President JD Vance—who transformed from calling Trump “America’s Hitler” to becoming his running mate—was clinical in its cynicism.
“He has been a conspiracy theorist for a decade,” Wiles said, describing Vance’s conversion to Trumpism as “sort of political” rather than principled.
Vance responded Tuesday afternoon with characteristic deflection. “Sometimes I am a conspiracy theorist but I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true,” he told reporters in Pennsylvania, before adding: “If any of us have learned a lesson from that Vanity Fair article, I hope that the lesson is we should be giving fewer interviews to mainstream media outlets.”
Russell Vought, the Office of Management and Budget Director and Project 2025 architect? “A right-wing absolute zealot,” according to Wiles. (Vought later posted that Wiles is his “ally” and an “exceptional” chief of staff—a diplomatic response that barely masks the tension.)
And Elon Musk, the “first buddy” who briefly ran Trump’s government-slashing DOGE initiative? Wiles called him “an avowed ketamine [user]” and “an odd, odd duck, as I think geniuses are.” When asked about Musk’s since-deleted post comparing federal workers to Stalin and Hitler’s executioners, Wiles quipped: “I think that’s when he’s microdosing.”
The Epstein Files Bombshell
Perhaps the most damaging revelations involve Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files—documents that the Justice Department must release by Friday under legislation Trump signed after initially objecting.
“I think she completely whiffed on appreciating that that was the very targeted group that cared about this,” Wiles said, referring to Bondi’s February stunt where she handed binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” to conservative influencers.
“First she gave them binders full of nothingness. And then she said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk.”
Wiles also contradicted Trump’s repeated claims about Bill Clinton’s alleged visits to Epstein’s private island. When asked if there was evidence of Clinton visiting the island, she was blunt: “There is no evidence.” Asked if there was anything incriminating about Clinton in the files, she added: “The president was wrong about that.”
As for Trump’s own presence in the Epstein files? Wiles confirmed she’s read them and said Trump is named but “not in the file doing anything awful.”
Venezuela, Retribution, and Policy Failures
Wiles revealed that Trump’s Caribbean “drug boat” bombing campaign—officially justified as anti-narcotics operations—is actually about regime change in Venezuela.
“He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,” Wiles told Whipple over lunch in November. “And people way smarter than me on that say that he will.”
That admission directly contradicts the administration’s public messaging and suggests Trump is pursuing military action without congressional authorization—a potential constitutional crisis waiting to happen.
On Trump’s retribution campaign against political enemies, Wiles initially said they had “a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over.” But 11 months into the term, she’s changed her tune.
“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 said.
When asked specifically about the prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud, Wiles admitted: “Well, that might be the one retribution.”
She also acknowledged advising Trump against pardoning the most violent January 6 rioters—advice he ignored—and unsuccessfully pushing him to delay major tariff announcements amid what she described as a “huge” miscommunication problem.
The Damage Control Scramble
Hours after the Vanity Fair articles dropped Tuesday morning, Wiles posted her first message on X since October 2024, calling it “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 wrote, though she didn’t dispute any specific quotes or facts.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly rallied to Wiles’ defense: “President Trump has no greater or more loyal advisor than Susie. The entire Administration is grateful for her steady leadership and united fully behind her.”
But political observers weren’t buying the unified front. “It’s hard to square the image of Susie Wiles as this smart, disciplined operator with the person who decided to divulge all of the Administration’s secrets to Vanity Fair in exchange for a photo shoot,” observed Dan Pfeiffer of Pod Save America.
His co-host Jon Favreau added: “It’s fun to think about how many different court documents will include quotes from Vanity Fair’s Susie Wiles interview.”
Why This Matters More Than Typical White House Drama
This isn’t just palace intrigue. Wiles’ comments carry weight because she’s not a disgruntled former staffer writing a tell-all book. She’s the current White House Chief of Staff—the first woman ever to hold the position—and these interviews were conducted throughout 2025 while she was actively managing the Trump operation.
Former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci called it a watershed moment: “The Trump era is ending. When top advisors feel emboldened to speak so candidly, something’s up.”
The interviews reveal a chief of staff who sees herself as a “facilitator” rather than a strategist—someone managing Trump’s impulses rather than shaping policy. She admitted Trump ignored her advice on deportations (where she said they need to “look harder” to avoid mistakes), pardons (she opposed releasing violent January 6 rioters), and tariffs (she wanted delays).
“So no, I’m not an enabler. I’m also not a bitch,” Wiles told Vanity Fair. “I try to be thoughtful about what I even engage in. I guess time will tell whether I’ve been effective.”
The Vanity Fair Photo Shoot Nobody’s Talking About
Lost in the shock of Wiles’ quotes is this detail: the Vanity Fair profile included a full photo shoot of Trump team members by photographer Christopher Anderson. This represents “full cooperation with a mainstream media outlet of the type that the president often attacks,” as Deadline noted.
Why would the famously camera-shy Wiles—who has spent a decade cultivating an image as Trump’s behind-the-scenes operator—suddenly agree to glamour shots and on-the-record interviews with a magazine Trump regularly dismisses as “fake news”?
That question is driving speculation about whether Wiles is positioning herself for a post-Trump future, signaling exhaustion with the administration, or simply miscalculated how her candor would play.
What Happens Now
Wiles’ job security depends entirely on Trump’s reaction. The president has fired chiefs of staff for far less—Reince Priebus lasted six months, John Kelly made it to 18 months, and Mick Mulvaney barely survived a year in the role.
But Wiles managed Trump’s successful 2024 campaign and has maintained his trust longer than most. She’s also demonstrably good at the job—keeping the famously chaotic Trump operation functional for 11 months is no small feat.
The real question isn’t whether Wiles survives—it’s what these interviews reveal about the state of Trump’s second term. When your chief of staff is this candid about dysfunction, retribution campaigns, ignored advice, and the president’s “alcoholic’s personality,” it suggests either remarkable confidence in her position or a desire to establish a public record before things get worse.
And with the Epstein files dropping Friday, Venezuela policy coming under congressional scrutiny, and Trump’s approval ratings at historic lows, “worse” seems well within the realm of possibility.
As one former Republican official told Vanity Fair: “So many decisions of great consequence are being made on the whim of the president. And as far as I can tell, the only force that can direct or channel that whim is Susie. In most White Houses, the chief of staff is first among a bunch of equals. She may be first with no equals.”
If that’s true, these interviews just showed us exactly how precarious that position really is.
Sources: Vanity Fair, CNN, The Hill, ABC News, CNBC, The Daily Beast, Deadline, New Republic, Mediaite, Fortune, Associated Press, Boston Globe