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Trump’s Chief of Staff Accidentally Tells the Truth

A VERY revealing Vanity Fair article about the inner workings of the Trump White House

Dan Pfeiffer

Dec 17

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Over the last eleven months, the conventional wisdom was that this version of Trump’s White House was more strategic and disciplined than the chaotic shit show that was his first term. That was always grading on an extreme curve, and Trump is, if anything, less disciplined than ever. Still, it had been true that Trump 2.0 was devoid of some of the drama of version 1.0.

Most people gave credit for this slightly less disastrous White House to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, who managed Trump’s campaign. Wiles cultivated an image as a serious person with the toughness, restraint, and strategic vision to bring order to chaos.

Well, that image came crashing down yesterday morning, when Vanity Fair published a blockbuster article.

For a cover story on the inner workings of the Trump White House — complete with a photo shoot — Wiles sat down for a series of interviews with historian Chris Whipple, where she unburdened herself in truly stunning ways.

Here’s how The New York Times summarized the article:

Over the course of 11 interviews, Ms. Wiles offered pungent assessments of the president and his team: Mr. Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality.” Vice President JD Vance has “been a conspiracy theorist for a decade,” and his conversion from Trump critic to ally was based not on principle but was “sort of political” because he was running for Senate. Elon Musk is “an avowed ketamine” user and “an odd, odd duck,” whose actions were not always “rational” and left her “aghast.” Russell T. Vought, the budget director, is “a right-wing absolute zealot.” And Attorney General Pam Bondi “completely whiffed” in handling the Epstein files.

Wiles’s damning admissions have thrown the Trump White House — and the broader MAGA world — into chaos. These sorts of inner thoughts are never supposed to be uttered out loud, especially not to the hated “fake news.” It’s an act of remarkable incompetence and disloyalty.

In addition to the certain satisfaction I feel in watching Trump’s goons turn on each other, this episode is revealing about Trump’s inner circle, how they operate, and why 2025 is ending with Trump in his worst political position since January 6th.

1. Amateur Hour

It’s truly impossible to imagine what Susie Wiles was thinking. There has been speculation that she assumed she was off the record when she made these comments, but she hasn’t accused the reporter of violating any agreement. Nor has she denied saying the things attributed to her — presumably because the reporter has them on tape.

That leaves only two possibilities...