Trump's Top Aide Acknowledges 'Score Settling' Behind Prosecutions
Source: NY Times
President Trump's chief of staff said she tried to get him to end his "score settling" against political enemies after 90 days in office, but acknowledged that the administration's still ongoing push for prosecutions has been fueled in part by the president's desire for retribution.
Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, told an interviewer that she forged a "loose agreement" with Mr. Trump to stop focusing after three months on punishing antagonists, an effort that evidently did not succeed. While she insisted that Mr. Trump is not constantly thinking about retribution, she said that "when there's an opportunity, he will go for it."
Ms. Wiles made the comments in a series of extraordinarily unguarded interviews over the first year of Mr. Trump's second term with the author Chris Whipple that are being published Tuesday and Wednesday by Vanity Fair. Not only did she confirm that Mr. Trump is using criminal prosecution to retaliate against adversaries, she also acknowledged that he was not telling the truth when he accused former President Bill Clinton of visiting the private island of the sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Over the course of 11 interviews, Ms. Wiles offered pungent assessments of the president and his team: Mr. Trump "has an alcoholic's personality." Vice President JD Vance has "been a conspiracy theorist for a decade" and his conversion from Trump critic to ally was based not on principle but was "sort of political" because he was running for Senate. Elon Musk is "an avowed ketamine" user and "an odd, odd duck," whose actions were not always "rational" and left her "aghast." Russell T. Vought, the budget director, is "a right-wing absolute zealot." And Attorney General Pam Bondi "completely whiffed" in handling the Epstein files.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/us/politics/trump-susie-wiles.html
Gift link for NYT article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/us/politics/trump-susie-wiles.html?unlocked_article_code1.9E8.Mw-x.ukvzkoWFT2MP
And see reply 5 below.
Editing to add the links for the Vanity Fair articles - 2 of them - which apparently aren't paywalled:
Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the "Junkyard Dogs": The White House Chief of Staff On Trump's Second Term (Part 1 of 2)
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/trump-susie-wiles-interview-exclusive-part-1
Susie Wiles Talks Epstein Files, Pete Hegseth's War Tactics, Retribution, and More (Part 2 of 2)
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/trump-susie-wiles-interview-exclusive-part-2
NNadir
(37,304 posts)off-the-clock
(335 posts)Strengthens the patriarchy. Maybe I am just in a mood
Attilatheblond
(8,305 posts)thought crime
(1,219 posts)Attilatheblond
(8,305 posts)I hope she has really good security and doesn't do anything online where Elons evil elves could intercept and tamper
marble falls
(71,104 posts)agingdem
(8,769 posts)texts are coming for her followed by a series of threats and intimidation...
I have no pity for Wiles...she knows he's a loathsome megalomaniacal psychopath ..... she knows his mind is dementia mush...and yet she said nothing as he demolished the East Wing/entertained enemies in the Oval Office/openly accepted bribes/diminished women particularly black women/destroyed FEMA/fired air traffic controllers/pardoned drug lords/directed ICE agents to kidnap and deport American citizens/ deployed the National guard to punish blue state governors...
Maybe Susie Wiles should give Marge Greene a call...
riversedge
(79,455 posts)marble falls
(71,104 posts)highplainsdem
(60,042 posts)SouthBayDem
(33,135 posts)underpants
(194,947 posts)But the White House under Ms. Wiles is chaotic too, just in a different way. Unlike John F. Kelly, the presidents longest serving chief of staff in his first term, who saw his job as trying to prevent what he considered radical, unwise or even illegal actions, Ms. Wiles does not view her role as constraining Mr. Trump. Instead, she makes clear that her mission is to facilitate his desires even if she sometimes thinks he is going too far.
She attributes her ability to work for Mr. Trump to growing up with an alcoholic father, the sportscaster Pat Summerall. High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink, she said. And so Im a little bit of an expert in big personalities. While Mr. Trump does not drink, she said he has an alcoholics personality and operates with a view that theres nothing he cant do. Nothing, zero, nothing.
In a sign of how much her job revolves around the presidents big-personality, stream-of-consciousness public comments, she keeps a free-standing video monitor next to the fireplace in her West Wing office with a live feed of Mr. Trumps social media posts.
Lovie777
(21,772 posts)I'll say many already knew that.
Karma13612
(4,919 posts)The POINT is that she broke ranks and actually said the quiet parts out loud.
Shes either going to be quitting soon, or she doesnt care if she is fired.
Pretty sure this wont go over well in the Offal Office.
Hey Joe
(409 posts)within the MAGA cult please.
Wont hold my breath on her ouster but it would be great to see.
Karma13612
(4,919 posts)Trump hasnt fired her and things are ticking along as usual.
Ah well, it s very good that she spoke out. Wish more would, as you said.
hlthe2b
(112,826 posts)highplainsdem
(60,042 posts)iemanja
(57,394 posts)1 . . . 2. . . 3 . . .
agingdem
(8,769 posts)but that will prove futile
Trumps loathsome revenge campaign will force her out and when the door slams shut she will have no choice but to pull a Marge Greene conscience growing thing..
heres whats going to happen:
1. He will ridicule her by name in a vomit spewing text
2. She will resign (new opportunities blah blah)
3.Threats and intimidation via Trumps army of brain dead zombies will come fast and furious
4. Trump will deny he ever knew her
moonscape
(5,636 posts)has been around long enough to get the implications. Im just curious why.
agingdem
(8,769 posts)profound.. whatever minimal filter he once possessed is now gone..more vile insults/profanity/overt racism/semi-narcolepsy/garbled speech/inability to finish a thought..
iemanja
(57,394 posts)highplainsdem
(60,042 posts)J_William_Ryan
(3,339 posts)will of course lie about this being fake news.
Phoenix61
(18,706 posts)of her professional reputation.
JT45242
(3,832 posts)The depositions are pretty easy when all the statements are made in public in front of microphones
AverageOldGuy
(3,358 posts)If so, for how much longer?
Will she be fired? Shived in the back? "I don't know anything about her." Fall out of a window? Commit suicide in her cell while the cameras are off?
Goonch
(4,236 posts)underpants
(194,947 posts)Wild blueberry
(8,131 posts)Kali
(56,636 posts)at least for me.
and almost worth paying - wow!
highplainsdem
(60,042 posts)OldBaldy1701E
(10,192 posts)Now, I know that some want to keep that history because then they only have to go to their email and facebooks and whatever without logging in.
So, keeping that stuff there... if you get hacked, then they will know everything.
Save yourself the hassle. Clear your browser history daily. Get in the habit of logging into your various sites rather than leaving them logged in all the time. Same goes with any d/ling or ordering. Once you save your receipt, log out.
Don't help those who want to hurt you.
Kali
(56,636 posts)Will check on desktop later
highplainsdem
(60,042 posts)videohead5
(2,873 posts)Comey or James case. She admitted that Trump was seeking retribution. defense lawyers will bring that up in front of a judge. I believe that both cases are already on life support especially the James case.
Martin Eden
(15,363 posts)WHY is she there?
FakeNoose
(40,196 posts)I can think of at least 3 maybe 4. The only reason Mark Meadows didn't get fired is that he was as deep into the insurrection planning as Chump was in the final year.
Chiefs of Staff don't last long for Chump, he has a habit of firing them often. Also they get disgusted and quit rather regularly. If they happen to be effective at their jobs, then everyone else is gunning to get the CoS fired.
So either way, she's a goner.
Martin Eden
(15,363 posts)It's why she wanted to work for The Fascist Grifter in the first place. If she's an experienced politico she had to know who and what he is.
Of course, she might be aligned with the hard right Christian Nationalist agenda and was motivated to make it happen.
Marthe48
(22,730 posts)It is abuse of power.
Many of the felon traitor rapist's targets are people doing their jobs, using established laws and protocols to examine, investigate, bring criminal charges IF evidence warrants, take to court and present the evidence. Then it is up to juries or grand juries to weigh the evidence from both sides and make a decision. At no point in the national crime spree have I seen evidence of traitor felon rapist being plotted against by professionals out to get him. There is no score to settle, just abusing power to cause harm.
He and his entire coterie of henchmen and bullies are focused on subverting American jurisprudence to avoid the consequences of lives of crimes. On top of his crimes, traitor felon rapist is a whining brat who should have been shut down the first time he was caught being a bully.
travelingthrulife
(4,463 posts)UpInArms
(54,084 posts)Susie will be out
underpants
(194,947 posts)Ray Bruns
(5,985 posts)
mobeau69
(12,218 posts)Martin68
(27,075 posts)Fil1957
(540 posts)DFW
(59,737 posts)She had better learn to say, some fake ICE agents grabbed me off the street and forced me into an unmarked black van, where Joe Biden injected me with truth serum!!
underpants
(194,947 posts)Mr. Musks demolition of the U.S. Agency for International Development including its lifesaving aid to impoverished people around the globe upset Ms. Wiles. I was initially aghast, she told Mr. Whipple. Because I think anybody that pays attention to government and has ever paid attention to U.S.A.I.D. believed, as I did, that they do very good work.
She acknowledged sharp internal divisions over Mr. Trumps announcement of major tariffs last spring. There was a huge disagreement over whether tariffs were a good idea, she said. We told Donald Trump, Hey, lets not talk about tariffs today. Lets wait until we have the team in complete unity and then well do it. But he announced them anyway and its been more painful than I expected.
Mr. Rubio told Mr. Whipple what he has said publicly, that if JD Vance runs for president, hes going to be our nominee and Ill be one of the first people to support him.
Still, the underlying tension came through when Mr. Vance posed for the magazines photographer. Ill give you $100 for every person you make look really shitty compared to me, Mr. Vance joked. And $1,000 if its Marco.
RainCaster
(13,385 posts)Nobody can keep him in line. He is the Malignant Narcissist.
JohnnyRingo
(20,511 posts)Holding the evidence high so we can stop asking the question of where a bear shits.
Prepare for a claim that it's actually cow manure, moose droppings, or democrat donkey doo doo.
"He'll say it's a hoax from the far left Vanity Fair", anything to try and distance himself.
2naSalit
(100,058 posts)Sounds like her nose is packed with some kind of white powdered substance.
turbinetree
(26,992 posts)just a thought..............
Wild blueberry
(8,131 posts)More repellent than I imagined. She must love her power to deal with such ghastly people. Also, must have a side of sadism. Yuck.
Kid Berwyn
(22,990 posts)Immunity and all that.
thought crime
(1,219 posts)cstanleytech
(28,226 posts)gfarber
(205 posts)There once was a deal, loosely made,
That old scores would be quietly laid.
Three months, Wiles had pled,
But she later conceded
When tempted, he still would cascade.
Said Wiles of the grudges in play,
Theyre not on his mind every day.
Yet chance opens wide,
And vengeances tide
Is one he wont let drift away.
In interviews strikingly bare,
She spoke with a novelists flair.
What Vanity heard
Was blunt, often blurred
And left many readers agog, slack-jawed, there.
She said prosecutions were bent
By urges for payback, not meant.
And claims tossed at Bill
Were, bluntly, untrue still
A fiction the president sent.
Of Trump she opined, rather tart,
Hes wired like drink haunts the heart.
Not sipping the gin,
But compulsive within
An addict for conflict and art.
Of Vance she was hardly impressed:
A theorist for years, she confessed.
His shift to Trumps side
Was politically tied,
Not faith, but a Senate race test.
Of Musk she seemed startled and shook:
An odd, odd duck, quoth her book.
Ketamine named,
His logic she blamed
At times left her staring, aghast-look.
And others fared little bit better:
A zealot, a whiff, name by letter.
Budget and law
Drew her candid guffaw
A staffer unbound by the fetter.
There once was a pact on a napkin,
With ketchup and fries slowly slappin.
Three months, then were done!
Said the chief to the one
But the ink kept on muttering happen.
The president swore, with a grin,
Im not thinking revengecount to ten.
But fate cracked a door,
And he yelled, Just one more!
As subpoenas came pouring like rain.
Ms. Wiles spoke so freely it stunned
Every editor sipping their rum.
Each interview spilled
Like a blender unsealed
Eleven times set to maximum.
She nodded: yes, law had been bent
By a craving for payback, not meant.
And tales Epstein-bound
Were just flung, not well-found
A fib with no passport or tent.
An alcoholics personality!
She said, with alarming neutrality.
Not booze in a glass,
But the need for a clash
A bender on pure animosity.
JD Vance, she remarked with a sigh,
Has theorized truths passing by.
His pivot was quick,
Not moraljust slick,
Timed neatly for Senate, oh my.
Elon Musk floated in, strange as a loon,
On ketamine clouds and a half-rational moon.
An odd, odd duck,
With decisions gone plunk,
Leaving aides clutching desks till high noon.
Russ Vought marched stiff as a board,
Every spreadsheet a holy word stored.
A zealot so right
He could tilt day to night
The budget baptized and restored.
Pam Bondi, alas, met her fate
In a folder labeled Epstein: Complicate.
She swung and she missed,
Left the truth in a mist
A whiff heard in chambers of state.
So ends this bizarre little play,
Where grudges and ketamine stay,
And the napkin deals gone,
With the fries and the dawn
Leaving limericks to clean up the fray.
Bayard
(28,597 posts)You will be added to that same retribution list. This is actually a pretty brave thing to do, especially while she's still there. trump might throw ketchup at her.
red dog 1
(32,509 posts)Throughout the first year of Donald Trumpâs second administration, Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple has interviewed Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff, amid each moment of crisis. His insiderâs account of Trump 2.0 joins the photography of Christopher Anderson for a portrait of powerâand peril.
— Vanity Fair (@vanityfair.com) 2025-12-16T11:53:08.524Z
âMost senior White House officials parse their words and speak only on background,â reports Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple. âBut over many on-the-record conversations, [Susie] Wiles answered almost every question I put to her.â
— Vanity Fair (@vanityfair.com) 2025-12-16T12:21:05.390Z
duckworth969
(1,199 posts)Uncle Joe
(64,239 posts)like Bondi is on her way out.
This was deliberately time because December 19th is coming up.
Thanks for the thread highplainsdem