What to Know
After reading a bombshell report by Vanity Fair, many assumed that chaos would ensue. In a series of interviews, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles offered surprisingly candid descriptions of her Trump admin colleagues. However, much to some people’s surprise, even though the article did not cast the Trump administration in a positive light, Wiles’ colleagues are standing by her.
Trump officials have instead directed their attacks at “fake news” reporters, as per usual.
Wiles’ claims have gone viral.
According to Vanity Fair, Wiles told reporter Chris Whipple that President Donald Trump has “an alcoholic’s personality.” Normally, Trump does not exactly respond well to criticism. But surprisingly, he seemed to agree with Wiles’ description of him — or he at least understood exactly what she meant.
He told the New York Post, “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. I have said that many times about myself, I do. It’s a very possessive personality.”
Trump even claimed that he’s described himself this way “many times before.” He added, “I’ve said that many times about myself. I’m fortunate I’m not a drinker. If I did, I could very well, because I’ve said that — what’s the word? Not possessive — possessive and addictive type personality. Oh, I’ve said it many times, many times before.”
To be fair, though, what Wiles said about Trump was debatably not the worst description included in the article.
She called JD Vance “a conspiracy theorist.”
What Susie Wiles thinks about the Trump administration pic.twitter.com/0oXOUE1qCL
— Democrats (@TheDemocrats) December 16, 2025
And in addition to telling Whipple that Vance had “been a conspiracy theorist for a decade,” she referred to Russell T. Vought, the budget director, as “a right-wing absolute zealot.” Wiles also seemed to criticize the way Attorney General Pam Bondi handled the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Reflecting on her observations about former DOGE head Elon Musk, she called him an “odd duck” and an “avowed ketamine [user],” though she also described him as a genius.
The Trump admin claimed her comments were taken out of context.
It is obvious to most people that Vanity Fair deliberately manipulated pictures and reported statements without context to try and make the WH team look bad
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 17, 2025
And there is nobody more loyal or committed to President Trump’s mission than Susie Wiles. She is one of the main reasons…
Wiles did not exactly deny the claims published in the article, but she described it as “a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.” In an X post, she added, “Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story. I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.”
Meanwhile, Trump claimed that he didn’t read it because he doesn’t read Vanity Fair. However, speaking to the New York Post, he reiterated claims that the comments were taken out of context. He told the publication that Wiles has “done a fantastic job.” He went on to criticize Vanity Fair and said, “I think from what I hear, the facts were wrong, and it was a very misguided interviewer, purposely misguided.”
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.
— Susie Wiles (@SusieWiles) December 16, 2025
Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the…
Similarly, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that the piece was “another attempt at fake news by a reporter who was acting disingenuously, and really did take the chief’s words out of context.”
She claimed that “the reporter omitted all of the positive things that Susie and our team said about the president and the inner workings of the White House.” According to Leavitt, Wiles “is the best chief of staff in our nation’s history, working for the greatest president in our nation’s history.”
