Donald Trump’s top lieutenants and family members have hit back at MAGA supporters and “Twitter trolls” who have sought to blame his White House gatekeeper, Susie Wiles, for the president’s chaotic past few weeks.
Vice President JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr., Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. and senior White House aides have rallied around Trump’s so-called “Ice Maiden” after critics accused her of being responsible for the president’s missteps on everything from the Epstein files to his America First agenda.
Others have also claimed she was working against the administration’s Make America Healthy Again movement, which focuses on reversing chronic diseases in America by addressing things such as diet, environmental toxins, and government agency reforms.
“The Twitter trolls running their mouths don’t know the first thing about Susie Wiles or how this White House works,” Vance told the Daily Beast.
“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.”
Don Jr. also weighed in, declaring that Wiles “has been the most loyal and trusted advisor and friend my father could have ever asked for.”
“She helped orchestrate his victory in 2024, which was the biggest comeback in history, and has built a White House and Administration carrying out the America First Agenda,” he said in a statement to the Daily Beast.
The pushback came after a turbulent period for the president, who has faced a backlash over his comments on everything from “affordability,” skilled worker visas, and Chinese students, to his halting response to the newly released Epstein emails.
This led to some hardline conservatives and MAGA loyalists openly accusing Wiles, who is one of the president’s most trusted advisers and a central force in the West Wing, of steering her boss off-course.
“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 last week.
National Pulse editor Raheem Kassam, a close ally of former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, tied Wiles to a CNN poll from early November showing the president’s disapproval rating at 63 percent.
Asking “what’s changed,” he suggested one of the factors was “incumbency and a trend back to the GOP norm: with Susie Wiles vetoing anything remotely MAGA, the White House agenda has trended back to a more corporate-friendly GOP median, which is leading Dems leading on the generic ballot question for the first time since 2022.”
And some critics, such as MAHA influencer Tiffany Ciani and recently fired Department of Health employee Steve Hatfill also accused Wiles of wanting to destroy Health Secretary Kennedy and his MAHA movement.
“I think, ultimately, behind it is Susie Wiles,” Hatfill said in an interview posted on X Wednesday.
“Unfortunately she’s President Trump’s chief of staff. They didn’t want the status quo changed, and they’ve jumped into bed with Big Pharma.”
However, Kennedy and the White House fired back, saying the MAHA movement had no better friend and champion in Washington.
“A small number of chaos agents are now targeting Susie out of ignorance or malice,” Kennedy said.
“Let’s focus on our extraordinary achievements to date and the monumental work that still needs to be done.”
White House spokesman Kush Desai added: “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.”
“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,” he added.
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 one of the architects behind Trump’s 2024 campaign and the first major staffing appointment the president made after winning the election last year.
Her appointment by Trump marked the first time a woman has held the position of chief of staff in the White House.
But frustrations started to boil over this month 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 when the president dismissed concerns from his base that Chinese students were taking up college places that Americans wanted.
It then turned to white hot when he suggested last week that there were no talented workers in the U.S. after being cornered for allowing high-skilled foreign workers into the country.
“I know what MAGA wants better than anyone else,” he said in a jaw-dropping interview with Fox News ally Laura Ingraham.
