President-elect Trump's selection of Susie Wiles to be his chief of staff has drawn renewed attention to a lengthy Politico profile of her written in April. No wonder: For all of her formidable clout—and the story by Michael Kruse makes clear that she has it—the 67-year-old keeps an extremely low profile. "She's one of the most consequential people in American politics right now," says former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who knows Wiles from her home turf of Florida, "And nobody," adds Florida lobbyist Ronnie Book, "even knows who she is." The story traces her behind-the-scenes rise through the ranks of Florida politics as a savvy—critics would say manipulative—player among politicians and political reporters. "Grandma is a ninja" is one of its other memorable quotes from a Wiles associate. Consider this nugget:
- "With information, she could solve problems, and she could cause problems, and she even, people who watched and worked with Wiles began to suspect, could try to cause problems she could then solve—little fires she could start and then let burn or put out."
The profile details how she guided Ron DeSantis to victory as governor and then, after being fired by him, guided Trump as he decimated DeSantis in the primaries. One question the piece attempts to suss out is how such an establishment figure ended up in Trump's orbit. Pressed about the Capitol riot, for example, Wiles acknowledges to Kruse that she "didn't love it" but adds that she doesn't think Trump "caused it." Elaborating, she adds: "You can't get the Trump policies without the Trump personality. That's not original—that comes from Lindsey Graham—but I believe it completely. And so you just sort of take the good with the bad. With everybody." Read the full profile, which notes how Wiles is the daughter of Pat Summerall, the former NFL player and famed broadcaster. The story explores how his alcoholism may have informed her personality. (More Susie Wiles stories.)
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