President Donald Trump said Friday there is “zero chance” he will replace White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, pushing back on a Politico report published a day earlier that said he was weighing candidates to succeed her.
Asked by a reporter on the South Lawn whether he was parting ways with Wiles, Trump was blunt. “Zero chance,” he said. “Zero. It was a fake story. Let me just tell you, the Susie Wiles story was a fake story. She’s been incredible.”
Trump described Wiles as “phenomenal” and accused Politico of fabricating the report.
“We’ve had maybe the most successful first two years–and it’s not even two years–in the history of the presidency. She’s been my chief of staff. She’s smart. She’s tough. She just went through a lot with the cancer surgery and the whole thing, and she recovered, fully recovered. She’s phenomenal.”
He said his team had already told Politico the story was inaccurate before it ran. “We told that to Politico. We said, ‘The story is totally wrong,’ and the only one that matters is me because I’m the one that makes the decision. So they made up fake news. They released it knowing it was a fake story. Susie is here, and she’s going to be here for a long time,” Trump said.
Politico’s report named several people it said Trump was considering as possible successors to Wiles, including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, New York Yankees President Randy Levine, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
In a statement given to Politico ahead of Thursday’s story, Trump had already rejected the premise, calling the outlet “TOTAL FAKE NEWS.”
“TOTAL FAKE NEWS Politico doesn’t care about facts, integrity, or honest journalism — it’s why I kicked them out of the White House! Susie Wiles is my loyal and longest serving Chief of Staff — there is a reason for that. She has been with me since the beginning, is my trusted advisor, and has my COMPLETE confidence.”
Wiles has served as Trump’s chief of staff since the start of his current term and has been a longtime political adviser to him.
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