President Trump has been asking friends and allies what they think of his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and floating possible replacements, Politico reported Thursday, citing four people with direct knowledge. Trump called the report “TOTAL FAKE NEWS” and said Wiles has his “COMPLETE confidence.”
Names reportedly floated include deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, New York Yankees president Randy Levine, special envoy Steve Witkoff, housing finance director Bill Pulte and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, according to the report.
Why would Trump replace Susie Wiles?
According to Politico, Trump has been frustrated by reports that longtime advisers allied with Wiles, James Blair and Chris LaCivita, were paid to advise the government of Republika Srpska, a Serb region of Bosnia with close ties to Russia. The New York Times reported that both men were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each. Politico also reported that Wiles’ daughter, Katie Wiles, worked for a lobbying firm representing Republika Srpska, which rivals made sure Trump heard about. The White House and the firm say Katie Wiles doesn’t discuss her business with her mother.
Rivals have been pushing too. “She’s burned a lot of people,” one source told Politico. The timing, three weeks before midterms where Republicans are bracing for losses, adds pressure.
What did Trump say about Susie Wiles?
“Politico doesn’t care about facts, integrity, or honest journalism, it’s why I kicked them out of the White House!” Trump posted. “Susie Wiles is my loyal and longest serving Chief of Staff, there is a reason for that. She has been with me since the beginning, is my trusted advisor, and has my COMPLETE confidence.” White House spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said “these anonymous sources know nothing.”
Wiles, the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, ran Trump’s 2024 campaign. She was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year and announced last month that she’s cancer-free.
The BeezLoop Take
Treat this with care: it’s an anonymously sourced report and a flat denial from the president. Both can’t be fully true, and we don’t know which is closer. What is on the record is the part that should matter to voters: top Trump political advisers taking money from a pro-Russia government in Bosnia, and the chief of staff’s daughter’s firm working for the same client.
Whether or not Wiles stays, the question nobody in the White House has answered is why people this close to the president are being paid by foreign governments at all. Firing a chief of staff wouldn’t answer it.
The open question: will the White House disclose who on the president’s team has done paid work for foreign governments?
Also on BeezLoop: the White House pushed out Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador.
Sources: Yahoo News · Newsweek · MS NOW (video)
