Donald Trump’s longtime supporters are coming for White House gatekeeper Susie Wiles, blaming the president’s so-called “Ice Maiden” for his missteps on everything from the Jeffrey Epstein files to his America First agenda.
After a turbulent week marked by criticism of the president’s comments on “affordability,” skilled worker visas, Chinese students, and his halting response to the newly released Epstein emails, MAGA loyalists have openly accused his chief of staff of steering the president off-course.
Wiles, long viewed as one of the architects behind Trump’s 2024 campaign revival and now a central force inside the West Wing, has spent years cultivating a reputation as a disciplined, discreet operative—someone who not just advises Trump, but tries to keep him focused and filters out the noise for him.
But for some hardline conservatives and MAGA loyalists, her gatekeeping is now the problem.
“Psssssst… hey Susie Wiles, you may wanna pivot now. The MAGA ship is sailing and several of you missed the boat,” far-right commentator Ann Vandersteel wrote on X this week
“Oh, and friendly reminder, we the people are YOUR boss. President Trump is too. And WE are his boss.”
Lawyer Robert Barnes also weighed in, writing that “this is what happens when SwampySuzie runs your White House” alongside a CBS scoop about financial industry executives being invited to dine with the president.
Others suggested the veteran operative ought to be replaced.
“She needs to go before she gets him destroyed in the midterms,” wrote one social media user, who describes herself as “just a red girl living in a blue world.”
“Too many boomers as gatekeepers. Get a young COS with the pulse on modern American issues,” wrote another.
The backlash came after a difficult couple of weeks for Trump, who received a resounding rebuke last week as Democrats swept off-year elections across the country, partly due to anger over cost-of-living pressures.
“It was a s--t-show,” one senior operative close to the president said.
But Vice President JD Vance told the Daily Beast: “The Twitter trolls running their mouths don’t know the first thing about Susie Wiles or how this White House works. There are few people in this world that have done more to advance the MAGA agenda than Susie, and we are all incredibly grateful for the leadership she brings to this administration.”
Donald Trump Jr. added that Wiles “has been the most loyal and trusted advisor and friend my father could have ever asked for” and “has built a White House and Administration carrying out the America First Agenda.”
However, frustrations started to boil over when Trump responded to the election defeats by describing affordability as a Democratic “hoax” and repeatedly insisted prices had gone down under his administration—when this is not the lived experience for millions of Americans.
MAGA’s rage intensified on Tuesday when the president dismissed concerns from his base that Chinese students were taking up college places that Americans wanted.
“I know what MAGA wants better than anyone else,” he said in a jaw-dropping interview with Fox News ally Laura Ingraham.
By the next day, however, that rage turned white hot when the “America First” president suggested that there were no talented workers in the U.S. after being cornered for allowing high-skilled foreign workers into the country.
“If you want to raise wages for American workers, you can’t flood the country with hundreds of thousands of foreign workers,” Ingraham told him.
“Well, I agree, but we also do have to bring in talent,” Trump replied.
“We have plenty of talent,” Ingraham fired back.
“No you don’t, no you don’t... you don’t have certain talents and people have to learn!” he lamented.
While some accused Trump of abandoning his principles, and even declared they would no longer support him, others set their sights on his chief of staff.
But Trump has long been a staunch defender of his top aide, whom he affectionately calls “Ice Maiden” and once praised as “the most powerful person in the world.”
The 68-year-old was the first major staffing appointment the president made after winning the election last year, marking the first time a woman has held the position of chief of staff in the White House.
“Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history,” Trump said on Nov. 8, 2024, three days after defeating Kamala Harris.
He added that Wiles, a former adviser to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, was “universally admired and respected.”
But not everyone in Trump’s orbit initially agreed with the pick. In his new book Retribution, ABC journalist Jonathan Karl revealed a last-ditch effort by two other contenders, Linda McMahon and Brooke Rollins, to derail Wiles’ appointment ahead of Trump meeting her at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 7 to offer her the job.
According to Karl, various staffers who had worked for Wiles managed to thwart Rollins and McMahon on their way to see Trump, and even managed to orchestrate a call with JD Vance to help delay them. The pair are now cabinet secretaries in the administration.
Others see Wiles as an establishment figure in a movement that distrusts exactly that. But the intensity this week represents a new escalation, as frustrations inside MAGA circles collide with what many view as botched messaging and Trump’s apparent betrayal of his America First agenda.
“Susie Wiles needs to be gone yesterday,” a MAGA acolyte wrote on X. “I have a feel (sic) a lot of the domestic crap is from her side of the party and it’s drowning out Stephen Miller.”
“I am publicly calling for Trump to fire Susie Wiles. She is doing unspeakable damage to MAHA and MAGA, in my opinion,” wrote another.
White House spokesman Kush Desai said: “There is no better champion for President Trump and the Make America Healthy Again movement than Susie Wiles.
“Susie’s leadership has helped the Administration clinch one historic MAHA agenda victory after another: from getting artificial ingredients out of our food supply to restoring Gold Standard Science in our public health bodies,” he said.
“There is no aide that is more indispensable to President Trump and his agenda than Susie Wiles. Those who are complaining aren’t doing it in good faith and they clearly are not aligned with the historic MAGA agenda she has helped President Trump build since 2016.”
