The fallout from White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles' Vanity Fair interview extends beyond her candid remarks, with White House staffers expressing disbelief that she participated in the interview at all and that other administration officials cooperated with the story by participating in the photo shoot.
According to Politico, Wiles' unguarded comments about Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and the president have generated unwanted headlines for the administration. Despite objections from Cabinet members to interviewer Chris Whipple's reporting approach, lower rung White House staffers expressed astonishment at the West Wing's full cooperation with the story.
One anonymous White House official questioned the decision, asking, "Why Vanity Fair? They've never been remotely good to us," and described the situation as "very, very odd."
The interview has left Trump allies bewildered about why senior administration officials would participate. Many have questioned how Wiles, known for her political savvy and loyalty to the president, could have misjudged the situation so severely.
A Trump insider characterized Wiles' comments as "extremely demoralizing."
The Vanity Fair piece arrives as the Trump administration confronts multiple negative developments: rising unemployment, declining approval ratings, election losses, GOP underperformance in recent contests, and growing concerns about potential military conflict in Venezuela. The interview reinforces perceptions that external events are driving the administration rather than Trump controlling the narrative.
Another White House official criticized the lack of discipline among Trump's closest advisers and the president himself, suggesting the problem extends well beyond the Vanity Fair revelations. The official lamented, "What are we talking about? Jeffrey Epstein and Venezuela? James Comey? Letitia James? There's a frustration on that, and I think a lot of that is frustration with the White House, but a lot of it is frustration with the president."
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