WASHINGTON (AP) — Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s understated but influential chief of staff, criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and broadly defended the president’s aggressive second administration in a series of interviews published Tuesday in Vanity Fair.
Wiles told the magazine in a wide-ranging, revealing series of conversations that she underestimated the scandal involving Epstein, the disgraced financier, but sharply criticized how Bondi managed the case and the public’s expectations.
After the story was published, Wiles disparaged it as a “disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.”
“Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story,” she wrote in a social media post. “I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.”
Wiles did not deny the comments that were attributed to her. She also expressed that Trump wants to keep bombing alleged drug boats in the waters off the coast of Venezuela until that country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, “cries uncle.” During the interview, she noted that there seemed to be a divergence between the administration's claims of halting drug trafficking and the actual military objectives.
Wiles, who was integral in Trump's 2024 campaign and is the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, expressed that the president has not been as angry as often depicted, yet acknowledged his determination for retribution against perceived enemies. Moreover, she described her role as managing Trump's presidential whims and ensuring that his more extreme impulses are tempered within governance.
The interview also addressed Wiles’ comments regarding Bondi, reflecting on her handling of the Epstein files and stating, “First she gave them binders full of nothingness," suggesting a disconnect from the public’s desire for transparency. Wiles' comments regarding the administration's handling of allegations against Trump’s opponents drew attention, reinforcing the complex nature of her position amid the president's tumultuous second term.
Wiles told the magazine in a wide-ranging, revealing series of conversations that she underestimated the scandal involving Epstein, the disgraced financier, but sharply criticized how Bondi managed the case and the public’s expectations.
After the story was published, Wiles disparaged it as a “disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.”
“Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story,” she wrote in a social media post. “I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.”
Wiles did not deny the comments that were attributed to her. She also expressed that Trump wants to keep bombing alleged drug boats in the waters off the coast of Venezuela until that country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, “cries uncle.” During the interview, she noted that there seemed to be a divergence between the administration's claims of halting drug trafficking and the actual military objectives.
Wiles, who was integral in Trump's 2024 campaign and is the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, expressed that the president has not been as angry as often depicted, yet acknowledged his determination for retribution against perceived enemies. Moreover, she described her role as managing Trump's presidential whims and ensuring that his more extreme impulses are tempered within governance.
The interview also addressed Wiles’ comments regarding Bondi, reflecting on her handling of the Epstein files and stating, “First she gave them binders full of nothingness," suggesting a disconnect from the public’s desire for transparency. Wiles' comments regarding the administration's handling of allegations against Trump’s opponents drew attention, reinforcing the complex nature of her position amid the president's tumultuous second term.
