President Donald Trump expressed unwavering support for his Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, during a phone interview on Tuesday. This follows the controversy sparked by Wiles' remarks about the president's personality in a magazine profile penned by author Chris Whipple. The president addressed the comments head-on, drawing on his personal history to dismiss any negative implications.
The controversy arose from a profile in which Wiles, referred to as the "Ice Maiden," compared Trump's personality to that of an alcoholic. Despite the potentially inflammatory comparison, Trump took no offense, explaining his well-known abstinence from alcohol as a choice informed by family tragedy. The president reflected on the loss of his older brother, Fred Trump, who died in 1981 at the age of 42 due to an alcohol-induced heart attack. Trump has consistently attributed his decision to avoid alcohol to this formative experience.
“No, she meant that I’m — you see, I don’t drink alcohol. So everybody knows that — but I’ve often said that if I did, I’d have a very good chance of being an alcoholic," Trump stated during the interview. He continued to clarify his self-assessment, emphasizing his fortune in avoiding alcohol given his self-described addictive and possessive personality traits, a topic he claims to have openly discussed in the past.
Wiles, whose late father Pat Summerall battled alcohol addiction publicly, shared her perspective with Whipple over the course of 11 conversations throughout the year. Her experience with strong personalities, she claims, gives her insight into the president's character. "High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities,” Wiles told the author.
In the same profile, Wiles made candid remarks about other administration members, including Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Pam Bondi. However, the focus has remained squarely on her comments about President Trump. Despite not having read the article himself, the president criticized the publication and the author for what he perceives as a misleading portrayal, suggesting that Whipple may have deceived Wiles about the interview's purpose.
Trump's confidence in Wiles remains steadfast. He lauded her as a fantastic chief of staff and criticized the magazine for losing its direction and readership. Administration officials have rallied in support of Wiles, crediting her with resolving conflicts and reducing infighting that was prevalent during Trump’s first term. Unlike her predecessors, Wiles has implemented a management philosophy that encourages open communication with the president.
Following the article's publication, Wiles took to Twitter to denounce it as a "disingenuously framed hit piece" that disregarded significant context and omitted positive comments about the President and his team. Her approach to managing the White House staff, as she explained to the Post in April, revolves around ensuring the president receives "unvarnished information and complete truth."
