Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s famously low-profile chief of staff, has delivered an unusually blunt account of the inner workings of the White House, criticising Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case while defending the administration’s aggressive political and foreign policy posture.
In a wide-ranging series of interviews with Vanity FairWiles said the Epstein controversy was badly mishandled by the Justice Department, particularly in its failure to anticipate how intensely Trump’s core supporters would react to mixed signals around disclosure.
Wiles said Bondi’s decision earlier this year to distribute binders on Epstein to conservative social media influencers — which contained no new material — only amplified pressure on the administration. She also dismissed Bondi’s suggestion that a definitive “client list” existed.
“There is no client list,” Wiles said, adding that claims it was sitting on the attorney general’s desk were unfounded.
Her remarks come ahead of a statutory deadline for the Justice Department to release all remaining Epstein-related records, following legislation Trump signed into law after initially resisting the move. Wiles said she had personally reviewed the files and found no evidence implicating Trump in criminal conduct, though she acknowledged the president had once been socially acquainted with Epstein.
The interview offers a rare glimpse into Wiles’ role as the chief manager of Trump’s impulses during his second term. She said there was an early understanding that the president’s desire for political retribution would subside within the first 90 days, but conceded that effort has not fully succeeded.
Wiles argued that Trump does not view his actions as vengeance, but as a corrective response to what he believes were abuses of power after the 2020 election. Still, she allowed that certain cases — including the prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James — could reasonably be perceived as retaliatory.
On foreign policy, Wiles spoke candidly about US military operations targeting suspected drug-smuggling vessels near Venezuela, saying Trump intends to maintain pressure until President Nicolás Maduro “cries uncle.” Her comments appeared to go further than the administration’s official line, which frames the strikes strictly as counter-narcotics operations rather than an effort to force political change in Caracas.
She said the White House was confident in its intelligence, even as lawmakers have raised concerns about civilian casualties and oversight of the strikes.
Wiles also pushed back against portrayals of Trump as erratic or unstable, describing him instead as intensely focused and supremely confident. She likened his personality to that of a “high-functioning alcoholic” — despite his abstinence — saying he operates with an exaggerated certainty that there is nothing he cannot achieve.
The unusually candid interview sheds light on a presidency still shaped by confrontation and unfinished battles, and on Wiles’ quiet but central role in navigating the tensions of Trump’s second term.
