Donald Trump hires Susie Wiles as chief of staff

US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that his campaign manager Susan Summerall Wiles will serve as White House chief of staff when he assumes the presidency next year.

In a statement, Trump said Wiles “just helped me win one of the greatest political victories in American history” and is “tough, smart, innovative and widely admired and respected.”

“It is a well-deserved honor to have Susie as the first female Chief of Staff in United States history,” he continued. “I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”

The Trump transition team is currently working to select top members of the new Republican administration, including the heads of all 15 executive departments, such as the secretaries of state and defense.

In his victory speech this week, Trump referred to Wiles, 67, as “the Ice Maiden” as she stood behind him on stage.

She mostly operates “in the background,” the president-elect said, but she is considered one of the most feared political activists in the United States.

“Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again,” he added in his statement Thursday, referring to his oft-repeated campaign slogan.

A profile of Politico earlier this year Susie described Wiles as feared but little known.

Less than a year after Wiles began working in politics, she joined Ronald Reagan’s campaign before his 1980 election.

She then played a key role in transforming politics in Florida, where she lives.

In 2010, she made Rick Scott, then a businessman with little political experience, governor of Florida in just seven months. Scott is now a U.S. Senator.

Wiles met Trump during the 2015 Republican presidential primary and became co-chair of his campaign in Florida. In 2016, he won the state against Hillary Clinton.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who put her in charge of his successful gubernatorial campaign two years later, described Wiles as “the best in the business.”

Wiles worked on the Trump campaign alongside Chris LaCivita, a veteran of Republican politics with decades of experience.

The two worked with Trump to formulate a winning strategy for the presidential primaries.

In her Politico profile, the 67-year-old grandmother – the daughter of the late football player and broadcaster Pat Summerall – said she had a “traditional” political background.

“In my early career, things like manners were important and there was a certain level of decorum,” she said, describing the Republican Party as significantly different than it was several decades ago.

“And I understand that today’s GOP is different,” she said, referring to the Republican Party, also called the Grand Old Party (GOP).

“There are changes we have to live with in order to achieve the things we are trying to do.”

The chief of staff is considered the president’s top adviser and plays a critical role in every president’s administration.

They essentially serve as White House managers and are responsible for assembling a president’s staff. A boss guides staff through the Executive Office of the President and oversees all daily operations and staff activities.

They also advise presidents on policy issues and are responsible for directing and monitoring policy developments.