Donald Trump started assembling his administration following his presidential election win on Wednesday, including announcing who would become his all-important chief of staff.
The president-elect has chosen Susie Wiles as his chief of staff – a woman he called an “ice maiden” during his victory speech earlier this week.
Speaking at his campaign headquarters in Florida in front of cheering MAGA supporters, Trump showed “tremendous appreciation” for Wiles’ work behind the scenes.
He said: “Let me also express my tremendous appreciation for Susie and Chris – the job you did. Come, Susie. Susie likes to stay in the back, let me tell you. We call her the ice maiden. She is not in the background [anymore].”
Due to her work in the shadows of the Trump campaign, she’s not a well-known figure to those outside of politics, but experts have warned that she is one to watch and potentially fear.
The Hill called her “the most powerful Republican you didn’t know”, and The New York Times said she is “perhaps the most significant voice inside Mr Trump’s third presidential campaign”.
Wiles is a veteran of Republican politics, starting out in the late 1970s and serving as a campaign scheduler for Ronald Reagan in 1980 before joining his administration.
She took a break from politics to raise her two daughters, Katie and Caroline, in Florida after moving from New Jersey with her then-husband, Lenny, who handled publicity for politicians.
However, she came back to run the Florida operations of Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign in which he secured victory over Hillary Clinton.
The Republican won Florida by just 1.2%, and many have credited Wiles’ tireless work behind the scenes.
She then helped Ron DeSantis succeed Rick Scott as Florida governor before leaving the job in 2019 for health reasons. Just one year later, Trump called her up to head up his second campaign.
Peter Schorsch, publisher of Florida Politics and friend of Wiles’, said despite her southern grandmotherly appearance, she is known for brutally “knifing” people out of politics.
He told The Indepdent: “Susie does not f*** around. There is no other way to say it. It’s not that she’s hard, it’s not that she’s mean, but if you try to promote yourself or if you flimflam or you’re not honest about something, Susie will knife you herself.”
Interestingly, former Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney revealed Wiles may disagree with many of Trump’s policies and campaign rhetoric despite being one of his top aides.
He told the outlet: “She would be what I’d call left on LGBT+ issues. And I can’t believe she would necessarily agree naturally with Donald Trump on immigration, but that’s more me speculating.”
