President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles strongly denies reports that she plans to leave after November’s midterm elections.
However, a blockbuster report citing five White House sources claims Wiles has grown frustrated with Trump’s recent Cabinet picks.
The report says Wiles has become so frustrated that she is ready to quit. Wiles helped lead Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, and some supporters credit her with securing his victory. Trump later rewarded Wiles by making her the first woman to serve as a U.S. president’s chief of staff.
On June 5, The Daily Mail reported that Wiles plans to leave the administration later this year. The report also noted that the 69-year-old Wiles is battling early-stage breast cancer.
According to The Daily Mail, Trump’s personnel decisions have fueled much of Wiles’ frustration. The outlet pointed to Trump’s selection of Bill Pulte as director of National Intelligence after Tulsi Gabbard stepped down.
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Willes would hardly be the first influential woman to leave Trump’s orbit. Over several months, Trump has lost or pushed out former Attorney General Pam Bondi, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Sonny Joy Nelson, a senior Trump aide and media affairs director.
Pulte currently serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and previously worked as a Florida real estate executive. The report also cited Trump’s nomination of his personal attorney, Todd Blanche, for U.S. attorney general.
Three White House sources told The Daily Mail that Wiles strongly opposed Pulte’s appointment. The sources said Wiles viewed Pulte as highly unqualified for the nation’s top intelligence position. They said Wiles opposed placing Pulte in a role that carries major national security responsibilities.
But Wiles is denying The Mail report, calling it “a piece of Friday fiction” in a post on X Friday.
“To be crystal clear, I am not going anywhere. I am honored and proud to serve President Trump, proud of our team and remain fully committed to advancing his agenda on behalf of the American people,” Wiles gushingly wrote before accusing the media of trying to “manufacture drama.”
“Some in the media have spent a decade trying to manufacture drama around President Trump and people who work for him. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now,” she concluded.
But social media wasn’t buying it.
“This is a real milquetoast denial of the Daily Mail report. I’m particularly interested whether it’s true that @pulte, along with Natalie Harp, was responsible for the blasphemous Jesus meme. Pulte is, in every way, unqualified to run the IC. But all the more so if he’s disseminating AI memes claiming his boss is God,” this X user pointed out, referring to the Mail’s reporting that Pulte and Trump aide Harp were behind Trump’s post in April showing himself as Jesus, which launched a backlash not just from opponents but Republicans and even the Vatican and pope.
Another poster summed it up in four words, “Such a pathetic liar.”
In fact, after heated backlash from members of both parties, Trump has since backtracked on Pulte, saying last Thursday, a week after appointing him acting director, he won’t formally nominate the MAGA loyalist when the temporary appointment expires next year.
Politico cited two Republican sources in reporting that Trump has already talked with others about the role.
Democratic Ohio congresswoman Shontel Brown believes Pulte has already shown how unqualified he is, using his current position at FHFA to try to dig up dirt and go after Trump’s political enemies, for example, over mortgage fraud. Courts have thrown out charges related to Pulte’s trumped-up accusations against New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook.
“Trump picked Bill Pulte for DNI precisely because he is inexperienced, unqualified, and will be the pushover this president needs to attack & surveil his political enemies,” Brown noted in a post on X.
“Bottom line, Pulte will not act in Americans’ best interest. He should be pulled from consideration ASAP.”
And Democrats are trying to force the issue. According to The Washington Examiner, they refuse to authorize an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before Friday’s deadline unless Trump withdraws Bill Pulte as his nominee for acting Director of National Intelligence.
The Republican-controlled Congress needs Democratic support to pass a FISA extension.
