What The Susie Wiles Article REALLY Reveals About The White House

Written By Leeja Miller

Sources:

Transcript:

Hi it’s Wednesday, December 17, 2025, you’re tuned into Why, America? I’m Leeja Miller. Just in time for Christmas, yesterday, a bombshell report dropped at Vanity Fair about a series of interviews White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles gave to reporter Chris Whipple, author of the book “The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency.” The article has caused a tizzy across the internet and the administration. The interviews took place over the course of this first year of the second Trump presidency and cover major scandals as well as unknown internal drama. And the article is accompanied by a series of purposefully unflattering photos of Trump’s key advisors and you KNOW I love an unflattering photo of any of these goons so it really made my tiny heart grow two sizes to see these washed out wrinkled old coots in all their glory. That being said, the White House drama and the different personalities are less interesting to me–we all know it’s a shit show in there of people falling over themselves to please the president and saying whatever it takes to keep him happy. What I find MORE interesting in this article, and what I want to talk about today, is how the White House propaganda machine is responding to this article, up to and including a whole ass presidential address scheduled for tonight, which is always fascinating to watch and the spin that the White House attempts here provides a lot of insight into how the regime wants us, the American people, to view them. THAT information is far more useful for us, so as not to lose sight of what’s happening in the bigger picture or get distracted by some scandalous accusations.

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Okay so in case you haven’t read the article, which is really a two part article, in Vanity Fair, I wanted to highlight my key takeaways about what was said about the substantive things that have happened over the course of the last year. A lot of reporting is highlighting out of context quotes from Wiles saying Trump has an alcoholic personality and JD Vance has been a conspiracy theorist for a decade, which is certainly shocking to hear from a White House Chief of Staff who rarely gives interviews and stays quietly out of the limelight. But let’s talk about what it revealed about the internal discussions about some of the biggest headlines from the year.

About the January 6th pardons, Wiles expressed in the article that she initially questioned the president’s decision to pardon EVERYONE involved in January 6th, but that she quickly fell in line when he said they were given unfair sentences–a statement she didn’t bother fact checking, apparently, something she rarely seems to do when presented with disinformation by the president.

About the USAID cuts and Elon Musk’s work with DOGE, she told the reporter that she didn’t like how Musk operated, he did things in a way she certainly wouldn’t have done, and that he was a ketamine addled very odd duck. Despite being the chief of the white house staff she had no control over Elon Musk and seems to have been frequently caught off guard by his actions. That seems to be a common theme here, that under Wiles’ watch, Trump’s advisors have been able to do pretty much whatever suits them, she’s often unaware of what they’re doing or what the ramifications of their actions will be, and while everyone is doing whatever they can to make the president happy, there isn’t anyone actually running the ship in there. About Elon’s moves to shutter USAID she said “I was initially aghast.” and “When Elon said, We’re doing this he was already into it, and that’s probably because he knew it would be horrifying to others. But he decided that it was a better approach to shut it down, fire everybody, shut them out, and then go rebuild. Not the way I would do it. … No rational person could think the USAID process was a good one. Nobody.”

About the immigration raids taking place across the country, she was equally unaware and unprepared while Stephen Miller did as he pleased. She said “I will concede that we’ve got to look harder at our process for deportation.” Further conceding that when two US citizen children were deported that someone made a mistake.

On tariffs, she confided in the reporter that there was a huge disagreement over whether the tariffs were a good idea, Trump’s team told him to wait it out, and Trump went ahead with “Liberation day” anyway, despite the fact that most of his advisors weren’t on board with it. They of course weren’t direct with him about it, according to Wiles, they just said “haha heeyyyy Mr. President, let’s just wait a little on that one…”

On the Epstein files, Wiles admitted she had no idea it would be as big of a scandal as it was, saying she’s read the Epstein files, or what she called the Epstein files, it’s unclear exactly what she read, and that Trump was in there but he didn’t do anything awful. It was Pam Bondi who biffed it on the whole situation, saying the list was on her desk when it wasn’t, presenting binders on the Epstein files to a bunch of influencers only for it to turn out the binders contained old information. It was a complete failure, based on Wiles’ telling, that Wiles herself completely missed because she was apparently just unaware about how many people cared about the Epstein files.

She conceded that when Trump appeared in Israel to make remarks about the peace deal he helped broker, he called Netanyahu a “war hero” and acted in other ways that Wiles admitted were tone deaf. She said “I’m not sure he fully realizes that there’s an audience here that doesn’t love it.”

And about the attacks on boats off the coast of Venezuela, she made the very troubling and telling statement that “He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say he will.” This despite the fact that the official party line is that the boat attacks are meant to save American lives by curbing the importation of drugs into the country, not about regime change. Like we all KNOW it’s about regime change, and this article makes it clear that regime change is the aim and the subject of numerous meetings within the White House, but the OFFICIAL stance is no no we’re saving innocent unsuspecting American citizens from the evil boats filled with drugs that keep washing up on our shores.

Over and over and over again, Wiles indicates that despite what everyone says about her running a tight ship, keeping a low profile while controlling things from behind the scenes, what’s really happening in the White House is that a bunch of people with large egos and their own agendas, guided by whatever they think will appease Trump, are doing whatever they want, usually to the surprise of both Wiles and Trump, and that Trump himself is largely doing whatever he wants, when he wants to as well, and Wiles is largely unaware of the stakes of any of it.

As to Trump’s apparent campaign of retribution against his sworn enemies, Wiles acknowledged that’s what was happening, initially saying they had reached some sort of agreement that he would get the first 90 days to play out his fun little “revenge and retribution tour” and then it’ll have to be wrapped up. But when asked about this agreement after the 90 days had passed and Trump was going after James Comey and Leticia James, Wiles said that even though the Leticia James thing probably was retribution–but how could you blame him!!!--an admission that will be very handy for her lawyers in court–that really what Trump cares about most deeply is trying to make sure that what’s happened to him–meaning, I think, the politicized lawsuits he’s complained about in the past–never happens to anyone else. I’m not sure how these lawsuits would do that, but Susie Wiles is convinced Trump is going after people like James Comey to try to save future presidents from the same fate he has faced, that it’s not about retribution at all but him acting frankly out of the kindness of his heart.

And that is another theme in this article–Susie Wiles has a tendency to give Trump a lot of benefit of the doubt about his intentions–that he’s doing this to save people from experiencing what he’s experienced, which goes against everything we’ve ever known about Trump as a person, and everyone who’s said numerous times over decades that he’s the same person behind the scenes as the one he displays publicly: ruthlessly self-serving.

Also revealing in this interview is the fact that Wiles herself admitted she only challenges Trump on small things, unlike her predecessors who had to be willing to tell the president no. According to historians and experts, it is the White House Chief of Staff who has to be the one willing to tell the President no. Chiefs of Staff notoriously don’t last very long, likely for this very reason. But Susie Wiles is convinced she doesn’t actually have to worry about telling Trump no, because what he does and thinks is “clear eyed” and correct anyway.

Okay, so here’s what we’ve learned: Wiles is an unreliable narrator who, like many of Trump’s other advisors, seems to genuinely think he knows what he’s doing. She exercises very little control over the staff of which she is meant to be the chief, she is only willing to challenge the president on small things, and that’s why he’s kept her around. He wouldn’t actually keep anyone around who was genuinely willing to challenge him on anything. So by letting him do whatever he wants and saying nothing to challenge him, Susie Wiles is creating her own job security. And despite her open willingness to sit for 11 separate interviews over the course of a year to talk very candidly with, god forbid, the mainstream media, it seems her job security is still securely intact. And the White House propaganda machine is making that very clear.

Wiles herself called the article a “hit piece”

JD Vance says she’s loyal and she would never subvert the will of the president.

Trump (via Truth Social) announced his address tonight but didn’t appear to directly speak on the article, though I imagine he will tonight.

The Social Security administration tweeted a quote from the SSA Commissioner praising Sysie Wiles’ leadership.

Robert F Kennedy’s brainworm issued a tweet praising Susie Wiles, the first female White House Chief of Staff, for her “maternal toughness and discipline.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tweeted similarly about how great Susie Wiles is.

Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a really culty sounding defense of Susie Wiles, saying “any attempt to divide this administration will fail… we are family, we are united.” Like okay weird.

Pete Hegseth defended her. Ambassador Mike Waltz defended her. As did Treasuring Secretary Scott Bessent, etc.

Karoline Leavitt told Fox that Vanity Fair committed bias by omission, failing to list all the praises that the various cabinet members gave to Trump, which of course we’ve all heard and wouldn’t really make for good journalism, but that’s beside the point of course.

What does this response tell us? They are incredibly concerned with presenting to the American people the idea that the entire administration is in complete lock step with one another and on Trump’s agenda. There can be no dissent in the regime. There can be no naysayers. There can be no one getting in the way, willing to ACTUALLY say no to the president, presenting any new ideas that aren’t in complete alignment with the regime’s goals. That is not what’s happening behind the scenes, of course, and this article paints that picture, but the PR machine is very concerned with making it seem that way. And that is because complete lockstep with the leader is an essential ingredient in a fascist state. Two specific examples come to mind, both from, surprise surprise, Nazi propaganda. The first I am reminded of by Pam Bondi’s tweet about being family and nothing will divide them. According to the BBC quote “The cult of the leader, which surpassed any normal level of trust in political leadership … was undoubtedly the most important theme running through Nazi propaganda.” This created an “anti-parliamentarianism” and “the projection of the Fuhrer-myth, which depicted Hitler as both charismatic superman and man of the people.” This was further enforced by Nazi propaganda depicting Hitler along with the slogan “One people, one nation, one leader.” Everyone had to be in lock step behind the leader in order for the myth to work, in order for him to exert the greatest control possible.

The second example I am reminded of in this Susie Wiles interview is the notion of Fuhrer as peacekeeper as the “sower of peace.” Prior to, you know, the whole world war thing, Nazi propaganda frequently insisted that Hitler’s primary aim was for peace. When Hitler illegally seized control of the Rhineland against the treaty of Versailles that ended the first world war, literally as he was occupying it, a popular propaganda cartoon depicted Hitler sowing seeds of peace. One part of the interviews with Susie Wiles that struck me is that she is completely convinced that Trump really does care about peace and about saving peoples’ lives while he’s cheering on the bombing of boats in Venezuela, looking the other way as Israel repeatedly defies the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and causing chaos in the streets here in America as masked men disappear people in our cities and neighborhoods. It is a shocking level of cognitive dissonance but one that I’m certain is incredibly necessary for someone like Susie Wiles or any of Trump’s advisors to operate. I genuinely believe a lot of them don’t think what they’re doing is evil. Or if it is, it’s a necessary evil for the greater good. Except maybe JD Vance, he’s the only one that I’m pretty sure knows a lot of this is unconscionable, hypocritical, and contradictory, and he’s willing to completely look the other way and applaud it for his own personal gain. Him and Trump I think have that in common. Many of the others, though, like Stephen Miller, I think are completely lost in the sauce, completely sold on the direction they are taking the country, completely devoted to the plans coming out of the White House. And that level of blind devotion is antithetical to a robust pluralistic democracy. But I think they all know that as well. I don’t think anyone in this administration has deluded themselves so far that they think they actually are furthering a pluralistic democracy, one where open debate is fostered from all perspectives, where the people have direct say in their elections and their representatives and what happens in their government. I know they say a lot that the President represents the will of the people but that just reinforces MY point, they care more about the President’s agenda than about any dissenting voices from Congress, which is far more directly elected by us and therefore indicative of our will–at least in theory, the money infecting our politics has made it otherwise but at least on a THEORETICAL level if they genuinely gave a shit about representative democracy, the will of a president elected by an electoral college would not have the weight that they give it. Which is why they like to say we are a republic, not a democracy, which is bullshit as I’ve already laid out in past episodes. But my point is my key takeaway from this article and the regime’s response to it is one that I guess I’ve had over and over for the last year and that is that democracy is barely kicking here, and the sycophants in the white house want it dead. There is no space for open debate and dialogue that doesn’t fall in line with their talking points. And they have done a VERY good job over the last decade of weeding out any would-be dissidents from within their ranks, of forming this hardline stance, of deeply attempting to control the narrative. But my other takeaway is that this cannot last forever. This level of control, of discipline, this lock-step fanaticism, this is all very fragile. If it wasn’t they wouldn’t have had every member of the MAGA movement in government coming to Susie Wiles’ defense over the last 24 hours. They wouldn’t have the leader himself doing a PR stunt tonight during which he might not even mention the article and, if he does, it will be to praise Susie Wiles and condemn the mainstream media. The interviews with Susie Wiles showed that there are cracks, that the people in lock step with the President don’t always like or agree with each other, even if they do fall in line behind the president himself, that there is disagreement over policy and initiatives, that people repeatedly have to be reminded to fall in line, that the party line has to be harped and harped and harped on by Karoline Leavitt and others, because it’s fragile. And the internal cracks will continue to grow, every fascist regime eventually burns itself out, this is not a long-lasting type of unity. This is an enforced unity among people with a lot of opinions and a lot of ego. We’re seeing the cracks in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s dissent. We’re seeing the cracks over the Epstein files. Even this article appears to have a lot of Trump’s base scratching their heads online, wondering why the hell Trump’s chief of staff, if she is so great, as the entire regime is now insisting she is, sat down for 11 separate interviews over the course of a year with the mainstream media? Why’d the entire group sit down for what appears to be a pretty extensive photo session? Why are they condemning the mainstream media and its interpretation of them after having cooperated with said media? Which is, frankly, I think a worthwhile question to be asking. Because if they are in such lock step, if they are so concerned with controlling the narrative, why DID they sit for these photos? I’m assuming here that the publication followed journalistic integrity and didn’t lie to them about the publication in order to get them to sit for photos. I’m assuming Wiles knew full well that she was on the record the whole time. I mean under a normal administration you would hope the president’s advisors would have a level of comfort and candor with the media, but under THIS one, it’s suspect for sure. My theory is it is an ego thing. These are really big personalities all sitting in one room together. As much as they admonish the mainstream media it is still the main stream. It’s what the people get exposed to. Getting flashy photos on the front page has to have some draw when you’ve got that many egos in a room. It could have also been an afterthought for them, a photoshoot they did in the chaos of everything around them and promptly forgot about. A slip up in their ironclad grip on the narrative. It’s really unclear why this happened, but it’s very clear that in an attempt to save face, the narrative now is that Susie Wiles is amazing at her job, and the people are standing in lock step behind her because she stands in lock step behind the president and we are all united–no cracks in the united front means no weakness, in their mind. But they can only do so much to cover up the cracks, and I imagine in the months to come, especially leading up to the midterms and to Trump’s eventual death and/or leaving of office whichever comes first, those cracks WILL eventually lead to the downfall of the regime. We have to keep the faith there at least. But in the meantime, I think it’s important to continue watching how the White House attempts to control the narrative of each new headline so as not to get distracted by the details but instead try to understand their overall scheme and where this all might be headed. I’ll continue to do just that right here, week after week.

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And if you liked this episode, you’ll like the one from Monday about guns in Australia and America.

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