Trump’s Chief of Staff Tells Everything in Astonishing Breach

Donald Trump’s chief of staff has spoken candidly about the inner workings of his second term in a series of interviews, addressing topics as varied as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the possibility of a third term for the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement.

Since the Republican president’s inauguration earlier this month, his chief of staff, Suzy Wiles, has met with Vanity Fair eleven times to discuss the details of this tumultuous second term in the White House.

She is credited not only with managing the numerous crises and scandals that have rocked the administration so far, but also with her role in shaping Trump’s cabinet, which is composed of controversial figures, by supporting appointments such as that of Kash Patel to head the FBI, Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, and Christy “Ace Barbie” Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security.

“Many crucial decisions are made at the president’s whim. In my opinion, the only person capable of influencing or controlling those decisions is Suzy,” said a former Republican chief of staff, describing her influence in the White House.

Her frank, two-part interviews suggest that other members of the Trump administration were likely not fully aware of the scope of her conversations with the magazine, which paint a surprisingly detailed portrait of the woman behind the MAGA movement.

“They don’t know what I’m doing,” she reportedly told journalist Chris Whipple, laughing and gesturing toward the Oval Office during one of their meetings.

These remarks were clearly not well-received at the White House. “The article published early this morning is a false and fabricated attack on me and on the best president, the best White House staff, and the best administration in history,” Wiles wrote on X on Tuesday, and she is now fighting to keep her job.

Here’s everything you need to know.

The Ghost of Jeffrey Epstein

Wells said she initially “underestimated the impact” of what is perhaps the most shocking scandal to have plagued Trump’s second term in the White House.

During his campaign last year, the president repeatedly promised full transparency regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, sparking outrage when the Justice Department and the FBI concluded in June, contrary to conspiracy theories long promoted by Trump supporters, that the convicted sex offender’s death in 2019 while in custody was a suicide and that he did not possess a “client list” of wealthy accomplices.

Faced with growing public anger and renewed scrutiny of Trump’s once-close relationship with the convicted sex trafficker, lawmakers forced the president to release all remaining Justice Department documents related to the case.

Wells confirmed previous reports that Trump’s name does appear in the investigation documents. “His name is in the file. We know that,” she told Vanity Fair, explaining that from what she had seen, “he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

She added, “Trump was on Epstein’s plane… his name is on the passenger list. They were, you know, two young bachelors, or something like that—I know that’s an old-fashioned term, but they were kind of two young bachelors having fun together.”

She also quickly refuted Trump’s claims, for which the president has yet to provide any evidence, that the documents would show that President Bill Clinton had visited Epstein’s infamous private island 28 times.

“There is no evidence” of these visits, Welles told the magazine, adding, regarding the possible presence of incriminating material in the documents concerning Clinton’s relationship with Epstein: “The president was wrong on that point.”

An “Alcoholic Personality,” Driven by Retribution

Welles claims to be an expert in managing relationships with people struggling with addiction. She says her father was an alcoholic and that she recognizes many of the same personality traits in Trump himself, despite the president’s repeated claims that he abstains from alcohol.

“Some clinical psychologists, far more qualified than I am, might disagree with what I’m about to say,” she said. “But functional alcoholics, or alcoholics in general, have an exaggerated personality when they drink. So I’m something of an expert on strong personalities.”

Trump seems to have “the personality of an alcoholic” and “operates on the principle that he is capable of anything. Absolutely anything.”

Perhaps the most blatant evidence of the president’s determination, even obsession, to impose his agenda lies in the lawsuits filed against some of his fiercest opponents, including former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and his former national security advisor, John Bolton.

“You could think it’s revenge,” Wells said of the actions taken against Comey. “I don’t see why you wouldn’t think that. I don’t think he wakes up in the morning thinking about revenge. But when the opportunity presents itself, he’ll seize it.”

Demolition and Vandalism at the White House

In early September, Trump sparked outrage by having the East Wing of the White House demolished to build a new 8,360-square-meter ballroom, largely funded by donors with vested interests in his administration’s policies.

As the president continues his project to build the imposing “Trump Arch” in Washington, D.C., inspired by the iconic Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Wells suggests that the self-proclaimed “Great Builder” may not yet be finished reshaping one of the country’s most famous buildings in his own image.

“I think you have to judge it as a whole, because we don’t know much about his plans,” she said. When pressed further, she replied, “I won’t say anything.”

Vance’s Attraction to Conspiracy Theories

According to Wells, Vice President J.D. Vance has been a believer in conspiracy theories for about a decade.

She didn’t specify whether this view included reptilian overlords controlling global finance, the alleged moon landing hoax, or the infamous bunkers under Denver International Airport, but she did offer her opinion on Vance’s shift from opposing Trump to supporting the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement.

“His transformation happened during his Senate campaign,” she said. “And I think that transformation was primarily political.”

She added, referring to her evolving opinion of him during his 2022 campaign for a Senate seat in Ohio: “I realized I really liked him and I thought he was doing a lot of good things. I thought he was the perfect person to save the country.”

Viscous Vought and The Ballard of Quirky Bobby

Welles describes Russell Foot, the architect of Project 2025—now director of the Office of Management and Budget under the Trump administration, widely considered the main instigator of the MAGA movement’s destructive campaign against the federal bureaucracy—as a “right-wing extremist.”

She also seems to have a particular fondness for Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arguably one of the most controversial members of the Trump administration, given his staunch opposition to vaccines.

“Crazy Bobby,” she calls him. “He goes too far—some would even say he goes too far. But I say that to get back to moderation, sometimes you have to go too far.”

Full Credit to Eugenics

Welles had a long American political career, beginning as an intern for New York Congressman Jack Kemp in the 1970s, before holding positions in the White House under Reagan and in the George H.W. Bush administration during Bush’s first presidential campaign.

It seems that Trump, himself a former reality TV host, was less impressed by Wiles’s qualifications during their first meeting in 2015 than by the fact that she was the daughter of American football legend Pat Summerall.

“He said it a million times: ‘I judge people by their genes,’” Wiles said of her first encounter with the man who would become president.

Mega MAGA Meltdowns in Miami

While Trump apparently believed Wiles had a knack for election predictions, her relationship with the MAGA leader hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Indeed, the two are thought to have nearly parted ways after a heated argument at one of his Florida golf clubs during the tense final stretch before the 2016 presidential election.

Wiles recalled that Trump was unhappy with the Florida polls, which showed him trailing more than he had hoped. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that angry since,” she said of his outburst in front of a group of advisors. “He was yelling and really getting worked up.” “I didn’t know whether to respond or just keep quiet. What I really wanted to do was cry.”

She recalled saying, as she stormed out: “Finally, I said, ‘Mr. Trump, if you want someone crazy and reckless, I’m not the person for you. But if you want to win this state, I am. The choice is yours.’ And, miraculously, he called me every day [after that].”

Perhaps a Little Prudence on Pardons?

One of Trump’s first acts after his re-election this year was to grant a blanket pardon to almost all of his supporters convicted for the January 6 attack on the Capitol, which aimed to invalidate the results of the 2020 election.

Wells claims to have emphasized the need for caution on this matter. When asked if she had suggested to the president that he be more “selective” in granting pardons, she replied, “That’s exactly what I did.”

“I said, ‘I’m in favor of pardoning people who were there by chance or who didn’t commit any acts of violence.'” “And we know perfectly well what everyone did, because the FBI did a remarkable job,” she said, thus contradicting the president’s version that Joe Biden, who was not yet president at the time, had orchestrated the unrest as part of a “Democratic hoax.”

“I sometimes voted against it,” she admitted. “And in case of a tie, he won.”

Managing Musk

In early May, towards the end of Elon Musk’s tumultuous tenure at the head of the Trump administration’s Government Efficiency Initiative, the New York Times published an article revealing that the Tesla CEO’s drug use was more serious and excessive than previously thought.

Wells doesn’t seem to harbor any illusions about the SpaceX founder’s propensity for self-medication. “The problem with Elon is keeping up with him,” she said. “He’s an admitted ketamine user. He sleeps in a sleeping bag in the executive office building during the day. He’s a bit of an eccentric, and I think geniuses often are. You know, it’s not very helpful, but he’s a loner.”

She added that Musk’s takeover of USAID, and the subsequent closure of this major agency that provides vital humanitarian aid to millions of people worldwide, completely surprised her. “I was in shock at first,” she told Lee Wiles. “Because I think everyone who has ever cared about how the government works, and USAID in particular, thought, like me, that the agency was doing excellent work.”

Sandbags on Tariffs

By most measures, the American economy is not doing well under Trump’s second term. GDP growth has fallen by half compared to the previous year, inflation remains high and persistent at nearly 3%, and almost half of Americans say the current cost-of-living crisis is the worst they have ever experienced.

Many economists attribute these financial difficulties to the massive tariffs imposed by the president on “Liberation Day” in early April, which marked the beginning of Trump’s trade war against much of the world.

The concerns appeared to be widely shared by Trump’s advisors, while Wells worked tirelessly behind the scenes to garner their support for the president’s proposed financial measures.

“I told them, ‘This is where we’re going to be,’” she recalled telling her team. “‘So think about how you can adapt to his true intention.’ Well, they didn’t.”

“It was more painful than I imagined,” she added.

Reign of ICE

Trump’s second term in the White House was marked by the most aggressive crackdown on immigration in U.S. history. Experts warned that the frenetic pace of deportations across the country had led to blatant violations of immigrants’ fundamental and constitutional rights.

“I acknowledge that we need to look much more seriously at our deportation procedures,” Wells said, referring to the infamous March deportation of Maryland resident Keylar Abrego Garcia, which the White House attributed to an “administrative error.”

She later said of the same procedure, “When in doubt, I think our procedures should err on the side of review,” which seems to contradict official government statements indicating that “in some cases, non-citizens are subject to expedited removal proceedings without the opportunity to appear before an immigration judge.”

Cut the Feeds

In February, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a White House summit widely criticized as a diplomatic disaster.

During that meeting, Trump and J.D. Vance repeatedly criticized Zelenskyy for what they perceived as a lack of gratitude toward the United States for its support in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—an invasion widely seen as a diplomatic victory for the aggressor in the conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“If it had been up to me, I wouldn’t have allowed the cameras, because I knew it would end up like this,” Wells said.

She added that the confrontation had been exacerbated by Zelenskyy’s alleged absence from a previous meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bisent in Kyiv. “The atmosphere was incredibly tense,” she said. “I wouldn’t say JD lost his temper, because he’s far more composed than that. But I think he had reached his limit.”

Make America Great Again… and Again… and Again?

Trump has repeatedly and publicly toyed with the idea of ​​running for a third term in the White House. For her part, Wells believes these remarks, which have been sharply criticized by his opponents, are nothing more than a provocation.

When asked if the president was seriously considering challenging more than 250 years of constitutional history, she replied, “No.” She immediately added, “But he certainly enjoys it,” noting that he knows it “drives people crazy.”

Despite recent polls, Wells remains convinced that the president’s declining popularity will have little impact on the crucial election for control of the House and Senate next year.

“We’re going to win the midterm elections,” she said.

Spokesperson Carolyn Leavitt said: “Chief of Staff Suzy Wilms has enabled President Trump to have the most successful eleven months in American history. President Trump has no more competent or loyal advisor than Suzy. The entire administration is grateful for her insightful leadership and fully supports her.”