FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles looks on, at the White House, in Washington, U.S. February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
An interview with one of President Donald Trump's top aides is also drawing scrutiny among those who see the apparent contradictions in her statements.
The Bulwark's Jonathan V. Last wrote Tuesday that Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is one of many who will never face accountability for her role in Trump's efforts.
"People will say that this piece is devastating because Wiles is so candid. I disagree," said Last. "The most devastating aspect is the extent to which Wiles contradicts herself and is an unreliable narrator."
He quoted one excerpt in which Wiles claims Trump has an "alcoholic's personality," believing there's "nothing he can't do." However, Wiles also said that she and Trump had a deal under which he'd spend his first 90 days on retribution. Another quote he cites is Trump promising he's not going to run for a third term and that it's about trolling Americans.
"So, according to Wiles, Trump thinks he can do absolutely anything. Trump said he won’t do retribution, and then did retribution. But you can absolutely take it to the bank that Trump accepts that he cannot run for a third term," Last pointed out. "How does that work?"
Last also thinks Wiles was lying when Trump "fell asleep in a cabinet meeting," saying he was merely closing his eyes and leaning back in the chair.
The Bulwark writer also points out that Wiles claims over and over that Trump doesn't know anything about some of the most important political issues of the day, such as how trafficker Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, was able to snag a spot in a cushy prison camp where sex offenders are barred. Trump also "doesn't know and never will" know about the "smallish agencies" that were eliminated by billionaire Elon Musk.
"So: Trump is completely keyed in on what regional federal prosecutors are doing on mortgage fraud investigations, but he has no idea what happens with USAID or Ghislaine Maxwell," Last wrote. "Sure."
Finally, Last pointed out that Wiles's statement about loving her thankless job was very different from that of her predecessors.
Wiles told Vanity Fair's Chris Whipple that in March, she had difficult conversations with Trump every day.
"They’re over little things, not big,” she said. "I hear stories from my predecessors about these seminal moments where you have to go in and tell the president what he wants to do is unconstitutional or will cost lives. I don’t have that."
Last said that based on Wiles's statements, it's "unmistakable" to conclude the Trump administration can't be "counted on to stop itself from doing terrible things. Un-American things. Even illegal things. And Trump’s chief of staff just said so, out loud."
