Trump’s chief of staff hits back at Vanity Fair’s ‘hit piece’

White House Chief of Staff Suzy Wells is taking issue with parts of a Vanity Fair article in which she painted an unflattering portrait of the Trump administration and many of its top officials.

In the interview, Wiles described Donald Trump as having an “alcoholic personality” and Vice President Vance said he had been a “conspiracy theorist” for a decade.

But Wiles said in a post on X that Vanity Fair ignored “important context” and created “an extremely confusing and negative narrative” about the government.

Wiles, 68, played a key role in Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign before becoming the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff.

In nearly a dozen interviews with Vanity Fair, Wiles spoke about a wide range of issues, including the handling of the Epstein documents, Trump’s legal actions against political opponents and the figures surrounding the president.

She acknowledged that there “could be an element of retaliation” in Trump’s efforts to bring criminal charges against political opponents or alleged enemies.

“I don’t think he wakes up thinking about revenge,” she added. “But whenever he gets a chance, he takes it.”

Wiles is widely considered one of the most powerful members of the White House during Trump’s second term.

Before becoming chief of staff, Wiles had a long history of working with Trump, including serving as Trump’s 2016 campaign manager in Florida and as head of his fundraising arm, Save America.

In interviews, she attributed her upbringing with an alcoholic father to her ability to work with the president.

“In high-functioning alcoholics, or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink,” she said. “So I’m an expert on big shots.”

Although the president doesn’t drink, she said Trump has an “alcoholic personality” and governs with the mentality that “there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”

Other figures Wiles commented on include J.D. Vance, a former Trump critic who later became a close ally and vice president of Trump.

Wiles said Vance’s change of perspective was “a little bit political.”

Vance told reporters at an event on Tuesday that he had not read the article but that he only believed “real” conspiracy theories, citing reports of former President Joe Biden’s failing health as an example.

Her strongest comments were reserved for tech billionaire Elon Musk, who led cost-cutting efforts at the Department of Government Effectiveness (DoGE) before leaving the government in May.

Shortly thereafter, Musk and Trump engaged in a public spat, with the two trading sarcastic remarks and insults on social media.

Wiles described Musk as an “open ketamine (user)” who “sleeps in a sleeping bag at the EOB,” the Executive Office Building next to the White House.

“He’s a very strange duck, and I think that’s what genius is,” she said. “You know, it doesn’t help, but he’s who he is.”

Looking back on Musk’s cost-cutting efforts, Wiles said she opposed abolishing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), saying she was “initially shocked by the idea.”

“I think anyone who paid attention to government and had paid attention to USAID would believe, as I did, that they were doing a great job,” she recalled.

“Elon’s attitude is you have to do it fast. You can’t get your rocket to the moon if you’re an incrementalist,” Wiles said. “With that kind of attitude, you’re going to break some china. But no reasonable person would think that USAID’s procedures are good. No one.”

On Tuesday morning, hours after the Vanity Fair article was published, Wiles launched an attack on X magazine, accusing the magazine of “disingenuous hit pieces” targeting her, Trump and other Cabinet members.

“Important context was ignored, and much of what I and others said about the team and the president was left out of the story. After reading it, I believe this was done to paint an extremely confusing and negative narrative about the president and our team,” she wrote.

The White House also defended Wiles when contacted for comment.

Press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said in a statement to the BBC that Wiles “helped President Trump achieve the most successful first 11 months of his presidency in American history.”

“President Trump could not have asked for a greater or more loyal adviser than Susie,” Levitt added. “The entire government is grateful for her steadfast leadership and fully supports her.”

Speaking to reporters outside the West Wing later that day, Levitt accused Vanity Fair of “omission bias” by excluding other interviews with White House staffers and of interpreting Wiles’ words “out of context.”

Trump and Musk have yet to comment on the Vanity Fair article.