Who is Susie Wiles, Trump’s White House Chief of Staff? 5 things you should know

President-elect Donald Trump made history twice this week: first, by winning the White House for a second time as a former president, and then by naming Susie Wiles as his chief of staff.

Wiles, a longtime GOP operative and adviser to Trump, will be the first woman in American history to hold the coveted position. In any case, she deserves it. Wiles is credited with ratcheting up Trump’s campaign activities after his defeat in 2020, helping him win both the Electoral College and the national popular vote in 2024 – a feat that has eluded Republican presidential candidates for 20 years.

“Susie Wiles just helped me win one of the greatest political victories in American history, and she was an integral part of my successful 2016 and 2020 campaigns,” Trump said Thursday in a statement announcing her nomination House announced.

“Susie is tough, smart, innovative and widely admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again. It is a well-deserved honor to have Susie as the first female chief of staff in United States history.” “I have no doubt that she will make our country proud,” he said.

TRUMP CHIEF OF STAFF SUSIE WILES ONCE GOT HELP FROM NFL BROADCAST LEGEND FATHER PAT SUMMERALL TO GET ALCOHOLISM

But while Wiles is known, respected and even feared in Florida, she is not well known in Washington, D.C., and certainly not nationally. Who is Susie Wiles? Here are five things to know about the next White House chief of staff:

Her father was a legendary NFL broadcaster and she helped him overcome his addiction

Wiles is the daughter of the late legendary NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall. Summerall was an NFL champion kicker for more than two decades and was CBS’ lead color commentator alongside John Madden.

During his broadcasting career, Summerall admitted to becoming an alcoholic. In his 2006 biography, he recounted how his daughter Susie staged an intervention for him and helped him overcome addiction.

Left to right: Halfback Phil King, star place-kicker Pat Summerall and quarterback Don Heinrich of the New York Giants toast drinks here at the Lone Star Boat Club on Nov. 2 to celebrate their team’s victory over the Green Bay Packers to celebrate November 1st at Yankee Stadium, 20-3. Summerall scored eight points on two field goals and two extra point kicks. (Getty Images)

“Dad, the few times we’ve been together in public recently, I’ve been ashamed that we had the same last name,” Wiles said in a letter read during the intervention, according to Summerall’s 2006 autobiography: “On and.” From the air.

Summerall wrote that his daughter’s words inspired him to take steps against his addiction.

Her first job in politics was with her father’s old teammate

In the late 1970s, Wiles was hired as an assistant to Summerall’s old teammate on the New York Giants, who went on to have a long and successful career in the House of Representatives and was later nominated for vice president. That was none other than the late Jack Kemp, a key proponent of former President Ronald Reagan’s supply-side economic theories and architect of the Regan tax cuts.

Wiles then worked for Reagan himself as a planner for his 1980 presidential campaign and later for the White House. In the 1990s, she left Washington, D.C. for Florida and served as chief of staff to John Delaney, the mayor of Jacksonville. She also worked as district director for Rep. Tillie Fowler in Northeast Florida.

SUSIE WILES, THE “ICE BABY,” IS A TOP CONTESTANT FOR TRUMP’S CHIEF OF STAFF, SOURCES SAY

Congressman Jack F. Kemp speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference. (Cynthia Johnson/Getty Images)

Delaney praised Wiles in an interview for Politico Magazine. “I described her as a political savant — just otherworldly political instincts,” he said.

Wiles was a fixture in Florida politics for decades, eventually helping a health care executive named Rick Scott become governor in 2010. Scott is now Florida’s junior senator and is celebrating his re-election to a second term this week.

She once described herself as a “true member of the Republican establishment” but supported Trump

Wiles has worked for every Republican faction imaginable, from moderates to die-hard conservatives. However, she surprised her friends and allies when she decided to become co-chair of the Trump campaign in Florida in 2015.

“As a prominent member of the Republican establishment, many viewed my unwavering support of the Trump candidacy as ill-advised — even crazy,” Wiles told The New York Times in a rare public statement.

Former President Donald Trump attends a game between the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets with senior campaign adviser Susie Wiles in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on October 20, 2024. (Evan Vucci Pool/Getty Images)

Although she faced skepticism, Wiles told the Tampa Bay Times at the time that she believed no other Republican running for president in 2016 was poised to bring about the change she believed Washington, D.C., needed. She said national Republicans had developed “a culture of convenience” and lost sight of basic principles.

“I said, ‘I don’t want this to continue.’ “I think it will do serious damage to our republic, and who in this group can really have the courage to change what I’ve seen all these years?” Wiles told the newspaper.

Turns out her instincts were right. Trump won the primaries and shocked the political establishment by surprisingly defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

She helped Ron DeSantis become governor before a falling out erupted

In 2018, a young Florida congressman named Ron DeSantis decided to run for governor. Thanks to Trump’s support, he won a competitive Republican primary, but his campaign struggled and lagged in the polls.

A little more than a month before the election, DeSantis hired Wiles to right the ship. Her leadership is largely credited with getting DeSantis over the finish line with a narrow victory over disgraced former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.

TRUMP names Susie Wiles as the first female White House chief of staff in history

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump brings Susie Wiles to the podium at an election night party in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

However, after the election, a rift emerged between DeSantis and Wiles. Politico reported that the state’s first lady, Casey DeSantis, was wary of Wiles’ growing influence and power in the governor’s orbit. Eventually, Wiles was pushed out of DeSantis’ inner circle.

She landed back in Trump’s sphere of influence through his unsuccessful 2020 campaign and remained a close and valued adviser as he planned a return to the White House in 2024. She was with the Trump campaign when DeSantis launched his own campaign for president, and many suspect the Trump team used Wiles’ insider knowledge of DeSantis to defeat the Florida governor.

In January, Wiles responded to a report on X that DeSantis had purged his campaign website of upcoming events.

“Bye, bye,” she wrote.

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She is a registered lobbyist

In addition to her work on political campaigns, Wiles is a registered lobbyist.

Federal disclosures filed in April show that Wiles was a lobbyist for tobacco company Swisher International during the Trump campaign. The documents show that she worked to influence Congress regarding “FDA regulations.”

WIles is co-chair of the Florida and Washington, D.C. offices of Mercury Public Affairs, a lobbying firm whose clients include AirBnB, AT&T, eBay, Pfizer, Tesla and the Embassy of Qatar, although she is not a registered lobbyist for any of those clients.

Previously, Wiles worked for Ballard Partners, a Florida-based company founded by lobbyist Brian Ballard.

Jackson Thompson of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.