Donald Trump's Chief Of Staff Describes Her Boss With Two Unexpectedly Unflattering Words

Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump's history-making chief of staff, or "The Ice Maiden," as he likes to call her, offered a surprisingly candid look at the divisive leader's personality during a conversation with Vanity Fair. As one of his most senior staffers, Wiles has spent a great deal of time with Trump and as such, she has drawn her own conclusions on the former "Apprentice" host's patterned behaviors. In the tell-all December 2025 profile, Trump's chief of staff notably described him as having an "alcoholic's personality." Elaborating on the strange, borderline offensive, comparison, Wiles clarified, "But high-functioning alcoholics, or alcoholics in general, have exaggerated personalities when they drink. And so I'm a little bit of an expert in big personalities." 

This final remark referenced her father, NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall, who had his own issues with alcoholism, and whom Wiles thanked for giving her the experience to be able to deal with Trump's outsized personality. The president is famously a teetotaler, having lost his older brother to the disease, so he likely wouldn't appreciate the descriptor — especially given Trump's considerable ego. The comparison creates a worrying image of his private behaviors, fueled by ego feeding habits and power-hungry decision making. But Wiles was not done dishing. She also admitted to frequently disagreeing with Trump, using her strong discouragement not to pardon the January 6 rioters as an example, and detailed the common thread of payback leading the charge of his administration.

In keeping with what his chief of staff described as an "alcoholic's personality," President Donald Trump is also well-known for firing back at his political adversaries. As Susie Wiles confirmed to Vanity Fair, they initially agreed that he would stop trying to settle scores once the initial 90 days of his second term were up but, naturally, that didn't happen. The White House staffer openly admitted that Trump is using legal prosecution against his opposition, including purposefully going after New York Attorney General Letitia James for winning a civil case against him (that case has been dismissed for the third time). 

When confronted with more examples of the president's vengefulness, Wiles commented, "I mean, people could think it does look vindictive. I can't tell you why you shouldn't think that." She added, "I don't think he wakes up thinking about retribution. But when there's an opportunity, he will go for it." Wiles claimed she's doing her best to fight back against this bad behavior, reasoning, "You don't want it to get in the way of the real agenda." But it's typically to no avail since there's no arguing with such a big personality. 

Of course, the chief of staff is not alone in her attempts to reprimand the president. Wiles joins a series of formerly proud MAGA supporters taking a stance against him, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, who publicly called Trump out on CNN.