Susie Wiles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susie Wiles
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Wiles in 2020
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| 32nd White House Chief of Staff | |
| Assumed office January 20, 2025 |
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy |
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| Preceded by | Jeff Zients |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Susan Summerall
May 14, 1957 New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Lanny Wiles
(m. 1985; div. 2017) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Pat Summerall (father) |
| Education | University of Maryland, College Park (BA) |
| Nickname | Ice Maiden |
Susan Wiles (née Summerall; born May 14, 1957) is an American political consultant who is the 32nd and current White House Chief of Staff. She served as co-chair of Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, having previously served as CEO of Trump's leadership PAC Save America, and as co-chair of his 2016 campaign in Florida. She is a member of the Republican Party.
Wiles began her career working for New York congressman and future Republican vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp. She then worked as a campaign scheduler on Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign. In 1995, while working for Congresswoman Tillie Fowler, she was appointed chief of staff to Jacksonville mayor John Delaney – the first woman to hold the position. She wielded significant influence over the government of Jacksonville during her tenure and would later advise Mayor John Peyton from 2004 to 2009.
She served as campaign manager of Rick Scott's successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign, defeating incumbent Florida attorney general Bill McCollum in the Republican primary and incumbent chief financial officer of Florida Alex Sink in the general election. In January 2011, Wiles was hired as campaign manager of Jon Huntsman Jr.'s 2012 presidential campaign. She left the campaign in July 2011 after establishing a Ponte Vedra Beach-based consulting firm with former Jacksonville Jaguars player Tony Boselli. After the first election of Donald Trump, she became a senior advisor for Ron DeSantis's successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign. However, after being shut out of DeSantis' inner circle, she would later describe working for DeSantis as the "biggest mistake" of her entire career.
On November 7, 2024, she was selected by then President-elect Trump to serve as the White House chief of staff in his second administration. She is the first woman to hold the position.
Early life
Susan Summerall was born on May 14, 1957, in New Jersey, and raised in Saddle River, New Jersey, as one of three children of Pat Summerall and his wife Kathy Summerall. Pat played football in the National Football League as a placekicker and later became a successful sportscaster, announcing a record 16 Super Bowls.
Wiles graduated from the Academy of the Holy Angels in 1975. Wiles also graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a Bachelor of Arts in English language.
Career
In 1979, Wiles was hired as an assistant for Representative Jack Kemp. In 1980, she joined Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign as a campaign scheduler.
In the 1990s, Wiles served as a chief of staff to John Delaney, who was then serving as mayor of Jacksonville. Wiles also worked for U.S. representative Tillie Fowler.
From 2004 to 2009, she advised the mayor of Jacksonville, John Peyton. In the 2010 Florida gubernatorial election, Wiles was credited with helping elect businessman Rick Scott. Considered an "outsider" at the time, Scott previously had few connections with the Florida Republican Party.
In January 2011, Wiles was hired as campaign manager for former governor of Utah Jon Huntsman Jr.'s presidential campaign. While on the Huntsman campaign, she and former Jacksonville Jaguars player Tony Boselli launched a Ponte Vedra Beach–based consulting firm. Wiles left the campaign in July 2011.
Wiles also ran Tallahassee, Florida-based lobbying firm Ballard Partners for close to a decade, but left in September 2019, citing "a nagging health issue".
Lobbyist
A report from Public Citizen found that Wiles was a registered lobbyist for 42 different clients between November 2017 and April 2024. Clients include companies involved with hazardous waste concerns, such as Republic Services and Pebble Partnership, the tobacco company Swisher, Globovisión, and the country of Nigeria.
Work for Donald Trump
In the 2016 presidential election, Wiles ran the Trump campaign's operations in Florida. During the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election, Wiles was reportedly deputized by Trump to help Republican Ron DeSantis' campaign for governor. In his victory speech, DeSantis described Wiles as the "best in the business". Wiles was set to help Trump's 2020 campaign but according to the reporting from Politico, the tie to Wiles, who had "played a key role in... 2016", was cut "at the urging of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis" to allow him "to install his own allies in the state party", a move "widely seen as a setback to the president's re-election campaign" in that battleground state. She described working for DeSantis as the "biggest mistake" of her entire career. When asked about the events that took place on January 6, 2021, Wiles said "I didn't love it, but I don't think he caused it."
In March 2021, Wiles was chosen as CEO of Trump's Save America PAC. In April 2021, Politico described Wiles as the "new honcho atop Trumpworld", noting that she would wield authority over former 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien and key aide Justin R. Clark. Under her leadership, Save America PAC has covered legal fees for several current and former Trump staffers involved in legal proceedings against the former president.
In August 2022, she was described as effectively Trump's "chief of staff" in the run-up to the 2022 midterm election and his 2024 presidential campaign announcement. Alongside individuals such as businessman Peter Thiel, Wiles pushed Trump to endorse Blake Masters in the 2022 Senate election in Arizona, who lost the election.
In the 2023 federal indictment of Trump for mishandling classified documents, Trump is alleged to have shown a classified map concerning a military operation to a person without security clearances referred to as "PAC Representative". ABC News identified the person as Wiles.
After the indictment, ProPublica documented an increase in payments to Wiles as part of a pattern of Trump staffers who received financial benefits after being subpoenaed in the investigation into Trump. Wiles denied knowing that it was best practice for witnesses in an investigation concerning their boss or client to not appear like they are receiving special treatment and denied ever talking to Trump about her testimony.
In the final months of the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump reiterated that Wiles and Chris LaCivita were the two people running the campaign after a spat with Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski. In 2024, Politico and The Guardian reported that Wiles describes herself as a "moderate" Republican.
Chief of Staff
Two days after Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election, Wiles was selected as his new White House chief of staff. The New York Times reported that Trump nicknamed Wiles as the "Ice Maiden," and said that she intended to instill order among Trump's staff.
Personal life
Wiles was married to Lanny Wiles, a Republican consultant, with whom she relocated to Ponte Vedra Beach, a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida, in 1985. The couple divorced in 2017. Wiles has two daughters and is a member of the Episcopal Church.
