Incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles is vowing to run a tightened ship in the upcoming Trump administration, keeping troublemakers out of President-elect Donald Trump's office starting Jan. 20.
"I have every hope that the 47 administration will not have the same number of attempts to put sand in the gears," Wiles, who will be the first woman White House chief of staff, told Axios. "We are off to a fast start with congressional work, hiring the best people, preliminary discussion with heads of state, fine-tuning his policy agenda, and planning for the first 100 days."
Axios, an outlet often critical of Trump, published a Q&A with Wiles, 67, homing in on a narrative that Trump's previous administration was rife with drama — although Trump has frequently denounced it as a figment of liberal media anti-Trump activism.
Wiles vows quiet, behind-the-scenes leadership akin to her declining to speak at the mic at Trump's request on election night.
"Susie likes to stay sort of in the back, let me tell you," Trump said as he thanked Wiles and co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita. "The Ice Maiden. We call her the Ice Maiden."
That kind of quiet leadership will also guide her work to support Trump in the White House.
"I don't welcome people who want to work solo or be a star," Wiles wrote in an email to Axios. "My team and I will not tolerate backbiting, second-guessing inappropriately, or drama. These are counterproductive to the mission."
Wiles was reportedly instrumental in connecting the Trump transition team to the House Republicans working to get Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., the 218 votes to clinch reelection Friday, speaking with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
While Wiles called the first 100-day agenda of the second Trump administration "an artificial metric," she vowed all gas, no brakes, according to Axios: "Getting off to a quick start and staying on that pace, together with an expectation of excellence every day."
Having the experience of a successful first administration sets Trump up for continued success, according to Wiles, because Trump "knows much more about the way the Washington institutions work, especially the need to have people who are serving be both competent and loyal. He has taken a keen interest in personnel and has personally interviewed and hired all the Cabinet and many sub-Cabinet hires."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.