Elected but not yet invested, Donald Trump has (already) made his first major appointment, Thursday November 7. Susie Wiles, architect of his campaign, will be his chief of staff at the White House. “Susie Wiles just helped me win one of the greatest political victories in American history,” greeted the president-elect in a press release. She “will continue to work tirelessly to make America great again,” assured Donald Trump, referring to the famous slogan of his campaigns.
The Republican billionaire stressed that Susie Wiles would be the first woman to occupy this prestigious position, an “honor” according to him “well deserved”. In his statement, Donald Trump also said that Susie Wiles was “tough, smart, innovative and was universally admired and respected.” These qualities will not be too much for this demanding and complex position. “Chief of Staff”in English, is a position which in France is similar to that of secretary general of the Elysée, indicates AFP. He is perhaps the most strategic in the American executive branch. During Donald Trump’s first term, no less than four chiefs of staff marched.
A discreet and methodical woman
Susie Wiles, 67, rarely gives television interviews and avoids public speaking. During Donald Trump’s victory speech Wednesday morning, she almost seemed to recoil from the president-elect’s invitation to say a few words. “Susie prefers to stay in the shadows, I tell you. The Ice Maiden (“Ice Maiden”). We call her ‘the ice maiden,'” the Republican said at the time.
Susie Wiles transformed Donald Trump’s dysfunctional political world into something organized, noted Politico. He is in fact credited with leading the most disciplined, professionalized and sophisticated campaign of Donald Trump’s three presidential campaigns, enabling the Republican billionaire to achieve a landslide victory over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris. .
This political strategist managed to control Donald Trump, sometimes intervening to bring him back on the right path or to explain to him why some of his decisions could be enormous political handicaps. Susie Wiles thus encouraged Donald Trump to moderate his rhetoric on the defeat of the 2020 election and to urge his supporters to vote by mail. “Susie Wiles simply has a masterful ability to handle several important things simultaneously,” she told Politico Chris LaCivita, co-director of Donald Trump’s campaign with the sixty-year-old. “Which makes her, from a management point of view, the perfect choice,” added this other architect of Donald Trump’s victory. An opinion shared by the former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, formerly Donald Trump’s main rival for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination: the nomination of Susie Wiles for the post of chief of staff is according to him an “excellent choice “.
A regular in Florida politics
The daughter of American football player and sports commentator Pat Summerall, a longtime lobbyist, is no stranger to Florida politics. At the start of his career, “The ice maiden” served as chief of staff to the mayor of Jacksonville and held junior positions with members of Congress and the Department of Labor. Susie Wiles began her career working for Republican President Ronald Reagan’s successful campaign in 1980. For years, she worked with moderate Republicans who promoted policies different from those of Donald Trump, specifies Reuters.
Susie Wiles was notably deputy director of operations for the vice-presidential campaign of the Bush-Quayle ticket in 1988, specifies Politico. She also managed Rick Scott’s 2010 campaign for governor of Florida and served as co-chair of Mitt Romney’s Florida advisory board during his 2012 presidential campaign. ”The ice maiden” also served as Donald Trump’s campaign manager in Florida in 2016.
As Reuters recalls, Susie Wiles also played a key role in Ron DeSantis’ victorious campaign for governor of Florida in 2018, before being fired by him after taking office. When Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis faced off in the Republican primary in 2023 and very early 2024, Susie Wiles presided over an aggressive and successful strategy to portray her former boss as a personally off-putting and out-of-touch person. reality on some key political issues.