Incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles likes to fly under the radar, preferring to keep her power base well away from the prying eyes of the media and DC spies. She'll have to get used to the attention, though, as she's the first woman to ever hold the position, and she'll be overseeing the very ambitious agenda of the Trump 47 administration.
The first thing to know about Susie Wiles, daughter of famed football broadcaster Pat Summerall, is that she doesn't just like to fly under the radar; she honestly dislikes 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 victory party on November 5th, she turned him down flat, prompting him to reveal her nickname:
"Susie likes to stay sort of in the back, let me tell you. The ice baby. We call her the ice baby. Susie likes to stay in the background. She's not in the background," Trump added. "Thank you, Susie."
An "ice baby" is precisely what Trump 2.0 needs in order 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 requiring Senate confirmation to go on radio silence as they prepare for their hearings. This was thought to be necessary in order to avoid fallout from things like the Elon Musk-Vivek Ramaswamy H-1B kerfuffle.
Trump's Nominees Have All Gone Silent, and There's a Good Reason for It
Despite what appears to be a healthy distrust of the media, Wiles granted Axios an interview—via email!—to give some insight into how the Trump 47 West Wing will operate. One thing stood out: Wiles will not tolerate drama.
"I don't welcome people who want to work solo or be a star," Wiles, whose boss calls her the Ice Maiden, said by email. "My team and I will not tolerate backbiting, second-guessing inappropriately, or drama. These are counterproductive to the mission."
Things will likely be more buttoned-up and tight-lipped than previous Trump teams that were prone to being leaky.
While the incoming administration has promised to get started on its ambitious agenda on Day 1—addressing things like mass deportations and electric vehicle mandates—Wiles sees her job as looking beyond the famed first 100 days, which she calls "an artificial metric," and focusing instead on the time between that first day and the 2026 midterms. With Republicans controlling the House and Senate at least through the midterms, this is the time when the Trump agenda is most likely to be passed.
Wiles said the administration will be "getting off to a quick start and staying on that pace, together with an expectation of excellence every day." Also:
"We are off to a fast start with congressional work, hiring the best people, preliminary discussion with heads of state, fine-tuning his policy agenda, and planning for the first 100 days."
Willes also addressed how Trump 47 would differ from Trump 45:
Trump "knows much more about the way the Washington institutions work, especially the need to have people who are serving be both competent and loyal. He has taken a keen interest in personnel and has personally interviewed and hired all the Cabinet and many sub-Cabinet hires."
Trump's pick of Wiles signals that he's learned and adapted in the years since his first administration came to a close—not to mention the intervening years of raids and lawsuits—and is particularly aware that he needs people around him, like Susie Wiles, that can be trusted.
For her part, Wiles foresees a strong start for Trump 47, saying, "I have every hope that the 47 administration will not have the same number of attempts to put sand in the gears."
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