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Susie Wiles

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Susie Wiles
Wiles in 2025
32nd White House Chief of Staff
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Deputy
Preceded byJeff Zients
Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Jacksonville
In office
November 20, 1997 – November 17, 2000
MayorJohn Delaney
Preceded byRick Mullaney
Succeeded byAudrey McKibbin Moran
Personal details
Born
Susan L. Summerall

(1957-05-14) May 14, 1957 (age 68)
Lake City, Florida, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Lanny Wiles
​
​
(m. 1984; div. 2017)​
Children2
Parent
EducationUniversity of Maryland, College Park (BA)

Susan L. Wiles (née Summerall; born May 14, 1957) is an American political consultant and lobbyist who has served as the 32nd White House chief of staff since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she is the first woman to hold the position.

Wiles graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1978. While attending university, she began working for New York representative Jack Kemp. Wiles later worked for Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign in his scheduling office, in the White House Office of Scheduling and Advance, and for Raymond J. Donovan, the secretary of labor. In 1985, she moved to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, with her husband and two children. Wiles served as the district director for Tillie Fowler's 1992 campaign to represent Florida's fourth congressional district. She worked within as Jacksonville mayor John Delaney and served as his chief of staff from 1997 to 2000. Wiles later served in John Peyton's administration, but quit to work as a spokeswoman and lobbyist.

In the 2010 Florida gubernatorial election, Wiles worked as Rick Scott's campaign manager. After Scott's victory, she served as Jon Huntsman Jr.'s campaign manager for his presidential campaign, though she resigned after less than a month amid a dispute with John Weaver. In October 2015, Wiles was hired as a Florida campaign chairwoman for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. She became his campaign manager for Florida in September 2016. After Trump won that year's presidential election, Wiles moved to Washington, D.C., to lead Ballard Partners with Brian Ballard. In September 2018, she was hired to lead Ron DeSantis's campaign for the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election. By the following year, a feud between Wiles and DeSantis allies, including his wife, Casey, led to her removal from Trump's 2020 campaign. She left Ballard Partners that year.

Wiles rejoined the Trump campaign in July 2020. After Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election, she was appointed to lead Trump's fundraising apparatus, including Save America. She assumed a dominant role in Trump's post-presidential activities, including his travel, fundraising, and endorsements in the 2022 elections. After Trump announced a third consecutive presidential campaign in November 2022, Wiles was named as his campaign manager alongside Chris LaCivita. After his victory in the 2024 election, Trump named Wiles as his White House chief of staff.

Early life and education (1957–1978)

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Susan L. Summerall[1] was born on May 14, 1957,[2][3] in Lake City, Florida.[3] She was the first child of Pat Summerall[4] and Katharine Jacobs.[5][6][a] Pat was a professional football player before becoming a television sportscaster in 1962.[7] After the 1958 NFL season, the Summeralls returned to Lake City.[8] They moved to the Bronx the following year for the 1959 season,[9] living temporarily in the Concourse Plaza Hotel.[3] Pat suffered from alcoholism; in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 2010, he stated that his drinking problems began after he retired following the 1961 season and started working for CBS Sports.[10] The Summeralls lived in Connecticut for three years before moving into a large home in Saddle River, New Jersey, in July 1967.[5] In his autobiography Summerall: On and Off the Air (2006), Pat stated that Katharine "raised our children virtually on her own" and that he had "failed them as a father in the most critical years" in favor of his sports career.[11] Summerall played basketball and tennis, as well as ran track and field.[6] She was a member of the Girl Scouts of the USA troop that her mother ran.[5] Summerall graduated from the Academy of the Holy Angels in Demarest, New Jersey, in 1975[1] and from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1978.[12]

Career

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Staff assistant (1978–1984)

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In May 1978, Summerall began working for New York representative Jack Kemp as a receptionist[13][14] and later an aide,[15] from her father's connection to him;[12] Pat and Kemp had played for the New York Giants in 1958.[16] She continued to work for him by the following April.[17] Summerall worked for Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign in his scheduling office.[4] By May 1981, she had worked in the White House Office of Scheduling and Advance.[18] By 1984,[3] she married Lanny Wiles, whom she had met while working for Reagan's campaign.[4] They had two children before divorcing in 2017.[19] In one of her final assignments, Susie helped Reagan prepare for a ten-day trip to Europe in June 1982.[4] By then, she had become a personal secretary for Raymond J. Donovan, the secretary of labor.[20] She left her position by 1984.[12]

Early campaign, staff, and public relations management (1992–2015)

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The Wileses moved to Ponte Vedra Beach[12] in 1985.[21] That year, Wiles worked for the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and led Jacksonville mayor Jake Godbold's public relations team. After the birth of her second child, she went on sabbatical.[12] By 1988, she had been living in Arcadia, where she was a member of the Florida Chamber of Commerce of DeSoto County and received an honor for co-leading the organization's women's forums that year.[22] Wiles returned to work that year as the head of campaign scheduling and advance work for Dan Quayle. In May 1991, the Wileses filed for federal bankruptcy protection after a failed hotel development deal in North Carolina indebted Lanny. She served as the district director for Tillie Fowler's 1992 campaign to represent Florida's fourth congressional district. After the campaign, she ran Fowler's local offices.[12]

In 1995, Wiles began working as Jacksonville mayor John Delaney's director of communications and intergovernmental affairs.[12] In April 1996, Wiles became his deputy chief of staff,[23] and in November 1997,[24] she became the city's first female chief of staff.[6] Wiles was key to the Better Jacksonville Plan and was the point person on the Preservation Project.[25] Her tenure was marked by concerns that she had controlled the flow of information reaching Delaney.[12] Wiles resigned in November 2000 to enter the private sector.[25] She told The Florida Times-Union that her exit would allow her to spend more time with her family and to leave a "high-pressure job".[25] Wiles became the chief operating officer of The Vestcor Companies the following month,[26] but left after less than a month.[27] In February 2001, she became a vice president at APCO Worldwide, a public affairs firm.[27]

By March 2003, she had become a spokeswoman for Mike Weinstein,[28] and later for John Peyton, Delaney's eventual successor.[29] She began serving as Peyton chief of special initiatives and communications in August.[30] Wiles oversaw Peyton's key initiatives, including early literacy, restoring the St. Johns River, and an anti-crime program. In June 2008, she stepped down to spend time with her family and travel.[31] By February 2009, Wiles had worked for Republic Services; concurrently, Peyton sought a US$750 million proposal for Waste Management to continue operating Jacksonville's landfill. She resigned from her position in response to a request from Peyton.[32] In October, Wiles joined IF Marketing & Advertising, a marketing firm founded by former Jacksonville Jaguars player Tony Boselli that was set to open an office in Jacksonville.[33] Additionally, Boselli and Wiles ran Ballard Partners's Jacksonville office by July 2011.[34] She assisted in Mullaney's mayoral campaign for the 2011 election.[35]

In April 2010, Rick Scott announced that he would run for governor of Florida in that year's gubernatorial election. Wiles joined Scott's campaign a week later as his campaign manager.[35] After Scott's victory in November, she served as his transition legislative liaison.[36] After Scott's inauguration in January 2011, Wiles led a political action committee in advance of former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr.'s possible presidential campaign.[37] In June, Huntsman named Wiles as the national campaign manager for his 2012 campaign.[38] The following month, she left Huntsman's struggling[39] campaign, telling the Miami Herald that "it was just time".[40] Wiles's decision was viewed by The New York Times as "the first serious sign of concern" for the campaign.[41] According to Politico, John Weaver, a strategist for Huntsman, had an internal feud with Wiles and forced her ouster.[42] Wiles later supported former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in his presidential campaign, becoming a co-chair of his Florida advisory council in December.[43] She served as the interim director of the Jacksonville Civic Council from February[44] to September 2013.[45] Wiles was a senior advisor to mayor Lenny Curry[46] and served as his initial policy director.[47] She lobbied for the tobacco company Swisher.[48]

Trump and DeSantis campaigns (2015–2021)

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In October 2015, Wiles was named as a Florida campaign chairwoman for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign alongside Joe Gruters.[49] According to the Tampa Bay Times, Brian D. Ballard introduced Wiles to Trump, who was delighted that Wiles's father was Pat Summerall.[50] Her role was described by The New York Times as "pivotal" in connecting Trump with local activists and political figures.[51] She was named as a delegate for Florida at the 2016 Republican National Convention in May 2016.[52] Wiles became Trump's Florida campaign manager after he removed Karen Giorno—who had clashed with Trump campaign officials[53]—in September.[54] Her strategy involved incorporating Trump's bombastic style with the Republican National Committee's ground operations,[55] though the campaign's own ground game in Florida suffered from funding issues.[56] According to Confidence Man (2022), amid polls showing Hillary Clinton beating Trump in Florida, Trump berated Wiles over his performance in the state and an advertisement that was aired without her consent.[57] In the weeks leading up to the election, she pushed for an absentee ballot program. Trump later won the state and the election.[58] In his report, special counsel Robert Mueller detailed Russian interference in the election, particularly in Florida, where Russian nationals misled Trump officials into appearing at rallies they held and funded. Wiles told Politico that campaign staff were unaware of Russian operatives.[59] Concurrently, she worked for Ballard Partners.[60]

Following Trump's first inauguration in January 2017, Wiles joined Ballard in his eponymous firm's Washington, D.C. office.[61] That year, she divorced from Lanny.[6] In September 2018, former representative Ron DeSantis appointed Wiles as the chair of his faltering gubernatorial campaign in the 2018 election.[62] DeSantis's decision was indicative of Trump's influence on the election[63] and shifted negative attention away from the campaign,[64] improving DeSantis's polling numbers.[65] Wiles led DeSantis's transition efforts, including hiring his chief of staff, Shane Strum.[66] She left the DeSantis campaign to handle the Republican Party's operations in Florida, setting off a feud between her and Strum.[67] State Republicans, led by Strum and first lady Casey DeSantis, sought to oust associates of Wiles within the party, leading to Ron distancing himself from the party apparatus.[68] In September, a leaked internal memorandum detailing how DeSantis's political team could charge lobbyists for access intensified the conflict, with close advisors to Ron accusing Wiles of leaking the document.[69] Trump's 2020 campaign severed ties with Wiles at Ron's behest, according to Politico.[70] The New York Times later reported that the move, though agreed to by Trump and the campaign manager Brad Parscale, infuriated several Trump advisors who believed that Wiles would be able to win the state.[71] That day, Wiles told Florida Politics that she had left Ballard Partners, citing health reasons.[72]

Campaign manager and advisor to Trump (2021–2024)

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Amid polls showing Joe Biden beating Trump in Florida, advisors urged Trump to rehire Wiles. According to Politico, Trump brought up bringing her back to DeSantis in a call from the Oval Office; Trump purportedly recalled that "Ron lost his shit."[73] By June 2020, Trump was considering rehiring Wiles.[74] The following month, she returned to the Trump campaign as an unpaid advisor to organizers of the Republican National Convention. In apparent response, DeSantis directed his fundraiser, Heather Barker, to tell donors that they should not donate to the convention.[75] Wiles was among several Florida Republicans advocating for Trump to nominate Barbara Lagoa to the Supreme Court following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.[76] Wiles's influence in the Trump campaign increased in the months leading up to the election, with David Bossie tasked with separating her from DeSantis and her suggestions to win Florida being implemented.[77] In March 2021, following his loss, Trump named Wiles to lead his fundraising operations, including Save America, a political action committee. Wiles asked Trump to only cover her travel expenses.[78] By June, her role had diminished as he relocated to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.[79] In Virginia, Wiles was credited with Glenn Youngkin's victory in that year's gubernatorial election by distancing Youngkin from Trump.[80] Jeff Roe, a political consultant, told Politico Magazine that he "worked with Susie Wiles the whole way through."[81] She joined Mercury Public Affairs as a co-chair of global public strategy in February 2022.[82]

Wiles managed much of Trump's post-presidential activities, including his travel, fundraising, and endorsements for the 2022 elections.[78] She established a vetting process for endorsements[83] that involved polling and field research,[84] though she also worked to influence Trump's recommendations.[85] Leading up to the 2022 Senate election in Arizona, Wiles and Peter Thiel advocated for Blake Masters in the Republican primary.[85] At Wiles's suggestion, Chris Kise joined Trump's legal team to represent him in the classified documents case.[86] She led a successful effort to eliminate Liz Cheney, a representative who opposed Trump, in that year's Republican primary for Wyoming's at-large district.[87] In November, Trump announced that he was running in the 2024 election. His campaign opted to divide the campaign manager role between Wiles and Chris LaCivita, a political consultant.[88] The New York Times referred to Wiles as "perhaps the most significant voice" within Trump's campaign.[89] She privately supported Ronna McDaniel's successful fourth campaign for chair of the Republican National Committee[90] and informally advised Daniel Davis in his campaign in the 2023 Jacksonville mayoral election.[91] As Trump's legal issues mounted throughout 2023, Wiles was responsible for paying lawyers[92] and for ensuring delegates will be loyal to Trump.[93] According to ABC News, Trump showed Wiles—who was unnamed in the classified documents indictment—a map of an "ongoing military operation".[94]

White House Chief of Staff (2025–present)

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Wiles and Donald Trump in the Oval Office in November 2024
Wiles (left) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine in the Situation Room during Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025

Following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election, Wiles was expected to be named as his White House chief of staff, though Trump had considered Brooke Rollins, a figure distrusted by many of Trump's advisors.[95] The day after Trump was declared the victor, he named her as his chief of staff, the first woman to hold the post.[96] According to The New York Times, Wiles did not dissociate from Mercury Public Affairs until Trump's announcement.[48] Wiles tentatively established a staff structure in which the Presidential Personnel Office would serve beneath the Office of Cabinet Affairs, set to be managed by Taylor Budowich.[97] In December, Trump replaced Bill McGinley, who was set to assume the position of White House counsel, with David Warrington, a choice Wiles preferred.[98] That month, Debra OConnell, the president of ABC News, dined with Wiles; the dinner occurred days before the network announced it would settle a lawsuit with Trump over on-air statements made by George Stephanopoulos.[99]

Wiles was involved in negotiating the prisoner exchange between the Russian entrepreneur Alexander Vinnik and the American schoolteacher Marc Fogel in February 2025.[100] That month, Trump fired the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and named Wiles, among other loyalists, to the board.[101] She was named in Associated Press v. Budowich (2025), a lawsuit filed by the Associated Press against Trump officials who blocked the news agency from press events and locations over its stance on the Gulf of Mexico naming controversy; Wiles had emailed the Associated Press, alleging that the apparent influence of its stylebook had been "misused, and at times weaponized, to push a divisive and partisan agenda."[102] According to Politico, Wiles and her deputy chiefs of staff were unaware of and infuriated by an email sent by the Department of Government Efficiency later that month requiring federal employees list five accomplishments in the prior week; Elon Musk, an advisor to Trump, asserted on X that failing to respond to the email would be grounds for termination.[103] In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that a federal investigation into an effort to impersonate Wiles had been initiated. Wiles told associates that the contacts list on her personal phone had been hacked.[104] The following month, the Journal reported that Vice President JD Vance and Wiles had urged Musk to reconcile his differences with Trump after the two men publicly feuded.[105]

Notes

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  1. ^ Pat and Kathy had two children after Wiles: Jay (born 1958/1959) and Kyle (born 1962/1963).[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Holy Angels graduates class of 152 students". The Sunday News.
  2. ^ Fineout, Dixon & Dobrin 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Bumiller 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d Dart & Alexander 1983.
  5. ^ a b c d Kukla 1968.
  6. ^ a b c d Kruse 2024.
  7. ^ Goldstein 2013.
  8. ^ Summerall 2006, p. 71.
  9. ^ Summerall 2006, p. 73.
  10. ^ Halpern 2010.
  11. ^ Summerall 2006, p. 164.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Nord 1996.
  13. ^ "Payroll Figures Reported For Area Congressman". The Buffalo News.
  14. ^ Husar 1978.
  15. ^ Crawford 1978.
  16. ^ Summerall 2006, p. 75.
  17. ^ "WNY Representatives Report Staff Salaries at End of 1978". The Buffalo News.
  18. ^ "Reagan turns down Harvard, Tufts invitations". Anchorage Times.
  19. ^ Bloch 2024.
  20. ^ Perlez 1982.
  21. ^ Smith 2016.
  22. ^ Stein 1988.
  23. ^ Roman 1996.
  24. ^ Stobbe 1997.
  25. ^ a b c DeCamp & Patterson 2000.
  26. ^ Daniels 2000.
  27. ^ a b Pinzur 2001.
  28. ^ "Glover offers workforce plan". The Florida Times-Union.
  29. ^ "Peyton moves in, brings flag along". The Florida Times-Union.
  30. ^ Palka 2003.
  31. ^ Palka 2008.
  32. ^ Mitchell 2009.
  33. ^ "Boselli marketing firm opens Jacksonville site". The Florida Times-Union.
  34. ^ Dixon 2011.
  35. ^ a b Hunt 2010.
  36. ^ Gibbons 2010.
  37. ^ Martin & Burns 2011.
  38. ^ Bennett 2011.
  39. ^ Blake 2011.
  40. ^ Caputo 2011.
  41. ^ Shear & Zeleny 2011.
  42. ^ Martin 2011a.
  43. ^ Martin 2011b.
  44. ^ Bauerlein 2013a.
  45. ^ Bauerlein 2013b.
  46. ^ Monroe 2015b.
  47. ^ Monroe 2015a.
  48. ^ a b Kelly & Vogel 2024.
  49. ^ Schreckinger 2015.
  50. ^ Leary 2017.
  51. ^ Haberman 2016.
  52. ^ Dixon 2016a.
  53. ^ Isenstadt & Debenedetti 2016.
  54. ^ Caputo 2016a.
  55. ^ Caputo 2016b.
  56. ^ Gabriel 2016.
  57. ^ Haberman 2022, p. 249–250.
  58. ^ Caputo & Cheney 2016.
  59. ^ Dixon & Caputo 2018.
  60. ^ Dixon 2016b.
  61. ^ Caputo 2017.
  62. ^ Bousquet & Mahoney 2018.
  63. ^ Isenstadt 2018.
  64. ^ Thrush & Stack 2018.
  65. ^ Mahoney 2018.
  66. ^ Caputo, Dixon & Dobrin 2018.
  67. ^ Dixon 2019a.
  68. ^ Dixon 2019b.
  69. ^ Caputo, Dixon & Isenstadt 2019.
  70. ^ Isenstadt & Dixon 2019.
  71. ^ Haberman 2019.
  72. ^ Schorsch 2019.
  73. ^ Fineout & Caputo 2020.
  74. ^ Kumar 2020.
  75. ^ Karni & Mazzei 2020.
  76. ^ Fineout, Caputo & Dixon 2020.
  77. ^ Isenstadt 2020.
  78. ^ a b Orr & Contorno 2022.
  79. ^ Bennett & Orr 2021.
  80. ^ Goldmacher 2021.
  81. ^ Lizza 2021.
  82. ^ Schorsch 2022.
  83. ^ Allen & Caputo 2022.
  84. ^ Orr 2022.
  85. ^ a b Palmeri 2022.
  86. ^ Helderman et al. 2022.
  87. ^ Isenstadt 2022.
  88. ^ Haberman, Goldmacher & Bender 2022.
  89. ^ Flegenheimer, Haberman & Bender 2023.
  90. ^ Allison 2023.
  91. ^ Fineout 2023.
  92. ^ Feuer, Haberman & Protess 2023.
  93. ^ Epstein et al. 2023.
  94. ^ Feuer & Haberman 2023.
  95. ^ Haberman & Swan 2024a.
  96. ^ Haberman & Swan 2024b.
  97. ^ Haberman & Swan 2024c.
  98. ^ Haberman 2024.
  99. ^ Grynbaum & Feuer 2024.
  100. ^ Troianovski et al. 2025.
  101. ^ Hernández & Pogrebin 2025.
  102. ^ Robertson 2025.
  103. ^ Traylor & Burns 2025.
  104. ^ Dawsey 2025.
  105. ^ Andrews, Schwartz & Mattioli 2025.

Works cited

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Books

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  • Summerall, Pat (2006). Summerall: On and Off the Air. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. ISBN 9780785214922.
  • Haberman, Maggie (2022). Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America. London: Penguin Press. ISBN 9780593297346.

Articles

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[edit]
Political offices
Preceded by White House Chief of Staff
2025–present 		Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded byas United States Secretary of Homeland Security Order of precedence of the United States
as White House Chief of Staff 		Succeeded byas Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
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