Behind the popular elected president Donald Trump lies a quietly influential force: Susie Wiles. Often referred to as the ‘silent operator’ of his campaigns, Wiles has played a pivotal role in shaping the course of recent American politics.
Her influence on political events, to many who know what they’re watching, is as obvious as it is invisible.
Wiles early life
Wiles is the daughter of legendary NFL play-by-play man, Pat Summerall. She was married to Lanny Wiles, a fellow Republican political operative, but divorced in 2017.
She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, and started her early career in 1980. She joined as a campaign scheduler for Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign.
In the 1990s, Wiles served as a chief of staff to John Delaney, who was then serving as mayor of Jacksonville. Wiles also worked for U.S. Representative Tillie Fowler.
Wiles as Trump’s pillar
In the 2016 presidential election, Wiles ran the Trump campaign’s operations in Florida. During the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election, Wiles was reportedly deputised by Trump to help Republican Ron DeSantis’ campaign for governor.
It is said that the personality trait that links Trump to the soft-spoken, media-shy Wiles, is the survive-and-thrive drive. Trump feeds his by disrupting order; Wiles feeds hers by maintaining order.
In March 2021, Wiles was chosen to serve as CEO of Trump’s Save America PAC. By 2022 she became the chief of staff of Trump’s campaign and became his most important adviser.
Many Republicans credit Trump’s political comeback, at least in part, to her bringing a new sense of discipline and direction to his campaign.
She’s seen as a leading reason Trump is elected again after his loss in 2020, the insurrection of 2021, the criminal indictments of 2023 and the trial (or trials) of 2024.
Trump has burned through so many campaign managers and chiefs of staff — no fewer than 10. However Wiles has been his chief manager for three years.
During President Trump’s late night/early morning speech on November 6th, 2024, celebrating the night and the number of Electoral College votes that have been projected to go his way, he asked Susie to speak about all the hard work she had done behind the scenes of his re-election. Susie declined to give a speech and instead had another member of President Trump’s re-election campaign speak.
Wiles Other Career
She’s helmed signature statewide campaigns in 2010, 2016, 2018 and 2020 for Rick Scott, Trump, DeSantis, Trump respectively.
She worked in the 1990s and 2000s for a pair of two-term, generally centrist mayors of Jacksonville — first John Delaney, then John Peyton.
She was the chief of staff for Delaney for three years — from November 1997 to November 2000. In 2008, she was the Duval County co-chair for John McCain’s presidential campaign. In 2009, she was a regular panelist on a local talk show on Jacksonville TV.
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