White House chief of staff says Trump has “alcoholic’s personality"

• Susie Wiles called Trump an “alcoholic’s personality” in interview.
• She labeled VP JD Vance a “conspiracy theorist” and Elon Musk an “odd duck.”
• Wiles dismissed the story as a “hit piece,” defended her record.

Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, has made headlines after a Vanity Fair interview in which she described the US president as having an “alcoholic’s personality.”

Wiles also criticized Vice President JD Vance as a “conspiracy theorist,” referred to tech mogul Elon Musk as an “odd duck,” and shared candid views on other members of the Trump administration.

Wiles, the first female White House chief of staff, was previously called the “ice maiden” by Trump, who credited her with helping drive his second presidency behind the scenes. The 68-year-old quickly pushed back against the Vanity Fair piece, which was based on a year of interviews by political journalist Chris Whipple.

“The article published early this morning is a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest president, White House staff, and cabinet in history,” Wiles said in her first X post in over a year. “Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story.”

Vanity Fair quoted Wiles, noting her personal background, her father, NFL announcer Pat Summerall, was an alcoholic, as she described Trump’s personality.

“He operates (with) a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing,” she said, despite Trump being teetotal.

- Criticism and insights -

Wiles was forthright about Elon Musk’s early role as head of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, calling Musk an “odd, odd duck” and an “avowed” ketamine user. She criticized the USAID shutdown under DOGE, stating, “No rational person could think the USAID process was a good one. Nobody.”

Regarding administration figures, Wiles praised a “core team” including Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, but called Vance a “conspiracy theorist for a decade” regarding the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. She also criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi for “completely whiffing” promised document releases and labeled Russ Vought a “right-wing absolute zealot.”

On policy, Wiles revealed a “loose agreement” with Trump to stop targeting political enemies after 90 days, while noting ongoing actions against his foes. On Ukraine, she said Trump believes Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants the whole country,” despite US diplomatic efforts.

- Defense from Trump allies -

Following the publication, top Trump aides defended Wiles. Vance called her “the best White House chief of staff that I think the president could ask for,” noting: “We have our disagreements, we agree on much more than we disagree, but I’ve never seen her be disloyal to the president of the United States.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added on X that there was “absolutely nobody better!”