New White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles likes to stay under the radar, preferring to keep her power base away from the prying eyes of the media and DC spies. However, she has to get used to the attention because it is her first wife She will ever hold this position and will oversee the very ambitious agenda of the Trump-47 administration.
The first thing to know about Susie Wiles, daughter of notable football presenter Pat Summerall, is that she doesn’t just like to fly under the radar; She honestly doesn’t like the spotlight. When President-elect Donald Trump tried to get Wiles, who served as his campaign manager this go-round, to say a few words at his Nov. 5 victory party, she said rejected him flat, which prompted him to reveal her nickname:
“Susie prefers to stay in the background, I can tell you that. The ice baby. We call her the ice baby. Susie likes to stay in the background. She’s not in the background,” Trump added. “Thanks, Susie.”
An “ice baby” is exactly what Trump 2.0 needs to avoid the chaos caused by the glory seekers, RINOs and deep staters of his first administration. Just last week, Wiles ordered all Trump nominees seeking Senate confirmation to maintain radio silence as they prepare for their hearings. This was felt to be necessary to avoid consequences like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s H-1B kerfuffle.
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Despite a seemingly hearty distrust of the media, Wiles granted Axios an interview – via email! – to provide insight into how the Trump 47 West Wing works. One thing stood out: Wiles won’t do it tolerate Drama.
“I don’t welcome people who want to work alone or become a star,” Wiles, whose boss calls her “Ice Maiden,” said by email. “My team and I will not tolerate slander, inappropriate second guessing or drama. This is counterproductive to the mission.”
Things will likely be more buttoned up and closed than previous Trump teams, which were prone to leaks.
While the fresh administration has promised to start on day one with its ambitious agenda – tackling issues like mass deportations and electric vehicle regulations – Wiles sees her job as looking beyond the notable first 100 days, which she calls an “artificial metric” to focus Instead, focus on the period between that first day and the 2026 midterms. Since Republicans control the House and Senate at least during the midterms, this is when the Trump agenda most likely to be passed.
Wiles said the government would “get off to a fast start and maintain that pace, coupled with the expectation of delivering excellence every day”. Also:
“We are off to a fast start working in Congress, hiring the best people, pre-briefing with world leaders, fine-tuning its policy agenda and planning for its first 100 days.”
Willes also addressed how Trump 47 would be different from Trump 45:
Trump “knows much more about the way Washington institutions work, especially the need to have competent and loyal employees. He has shown great interest in personnel and has personally interviewed and hired the entire Cabinet and many sub-Cabinet hires.”
Trump’s choice of Wiles signals that he has learned and adapted in the years since the end of his first administration – not to mention the years of crackdowns and lawsuits in between – and that he is particularly aware of the need for people around him who can, like Susie Wiles, be trustworthy.
For her part, Wiles expects a sturdy start for Trump 47 and says: “I have great hope that the 47 administration will not make so many attempts to throw sand in the works.”
