Rival camps in President Donald Trump’s circle are jockeying to pick the next chief of staff as the president considers a West Wing shake-up after the midterms, seven insiders told the Daily Mail.
“Oppo is flooding to POTUS every hour destroying Susie Wiles and her team, especially LaCivita and Blair,” one source in Trump’s orbit said.
The competing groups are loyalists of current chief of staff Susie Wiles, allies of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the longtime MAGA faithful. Wiles’ side prefers Mike Needham, a former Heritage Action chief now deputy national security adviser. Kushner’s allies back envoy Steve Witkoff and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. The MAGA veterans lean toward deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and housing official Bill Pulte. A wildcard is John McEntee, Trump’s former personnel chief, who sources say Wiles has kept out of the White House this term.
Trump has also reportedly considered former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and sources claim Wiles is steering him toward McCarthy to preserve her influence after she exits. Rollins said she has “no plans or interest to leave.”
The pressure follows reports that Wiles allies James Blair and Chris LaCivita earned large fees advising a pro-Russian region in Bosnia and that Wiles’ daughter visited the region with an energy executive. Her lobbying firm said she didn’t speak with any U.S. official about it.
Trump told reporters there’s “zero chance” he replaces Wiles. “She’s phenomenal,” he said.
A former adviser claimed Trump privately believes the House is lost and the Senate is at risk. A source close to the White House dismissed the succession chatter as “Susie haters trying to will something into reality,” adding that if Republicans hold the Senate, Wiles “will look pretty good” to Trump.
A Kushner spokesman said Wiles “is the best Chief of Staff President Trump has ever had.”