What to know from Susie Wiles’ interviews with ‘Vanity Fair,’ according to the writer
A new Vanity Fair profile by author Chris Whipple cracks open the private world of a White House Chief of Staff who rarely speaks and, when she does, doesn’t hedge.
Speaking with All Things Considered, Whipple said the piece is based on 11 in-depth, on-the-record interviews over the past year, with an extraordinary level of access to Susie Wiles. “Every once in a while in the course of your career as a reporter, lightning strikes,” Whipple told NPR.
In Whipple’s reporting, Wiles doled out criticism for multiple colleagues in and around the White House – including saying Attorney General Pam Bondi “completely whiffed” on her handling of the Epstein files, and calling Vice President J.D. Vance a “conspiracy theorist,” among other characterizations. Whipple’s profile showed Wiles was equally blunt about her boss, describing President Donald Trump as having “an alcoholic’s personality,” a characterization Trump, who does not drink, later echoed himself to another news outlet, saying, “She’s right. I do have an obsessive and addictive personality.”
On Tuesday, Wiles pushed back on X, calling the profile a “disingenuously framed hit piece” and arguing it painted “an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.”
Whipple told All Things Considered that Wiles’ response stood out precisely because it avoided disputing the substance of the reporting. “Not a single fact in the piece has been contested,” Whipple said.
Listen to the full interview by clicking on the blue button above.
The web copy of this interview was written by Majd Al-Waheidi and edited by Ashley Brown.
What do eggs, Grok and Greenland have in common? They’re all quiz-worthy! Are you?
See if you can get a perfect score for once.
Jodie Foster plans more French roles after ‘A Private Life’
Jodie Foster has spoken French since she was a child. But it's only now that she's taken on a lead role scripted almost entirely in the language of Molière, for A Private Life.
‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ is ‘Game of Thrones’ for the haters
There are no dragons, no maps and no internecine family trees in this Game of Thrones prequel about an underdog knight and his would-be squire.
With limited political power, Minnesota Democrats navigate resistance to Trump
From public pleas to lawsuits, Minnesota's Democratic leaders are trying to stop the surge of federal agents on their streets.
House Republicans are investigating Jan. 6. NPR fact-checked the first hearing
A Republican-led congressional subcommittee is leading a new investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Do their claims add up?
FEMA is getting rid of thousands of workers in areas recovering from disasters
Thousands of employees whose contracts end this year will lose their jobs, FEMA managers said at personnel meetings this week. The cuts could hobble the nation's disaster agency.
