Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple defended his recent profile on Chief of Staff Susie Wiles after the White House claimed the statements of Trump administration officials were taken "out of context."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made that claim, which CNN host Anderson Cooper, in his interview with Whipple, highlighted during their conversation.
Wiles herself asserted that "significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story." Attorney General Pam Bondi also backed up Wiles, saying that "any attempt to divide this administration will fail. Any attempt to undermine and downplay President Trump’s monumental achievements will fail."
But Whipple was not having it, telling CNN that "everything is on tape":
“This was one of those cases as a reporter in your career when lightning strikes, and it was astonishing to me the extent to which she was unguarded and freewheeling on the record all the time.” ...
“Everything in the article was on the record. I recorded every interview. ... When I told her that 'Vanity Fair' had agreed to do a piece, to publish a piece, she [Wiles] was all in and enthusiastic about it. This was lightning striking. It’s amazing to me.”
“Everything was scrupulously in context. There isn’t a single fact or a single assertion that they’ve challenged in the piece. It really reminds me of the Watergate days when Ben Bradlee talked about non-denial denial. So this is the ultimate non-denial denial.”
He said that "every assertion that Susie made" is on tape," adding:
“And as you know, I interviewed the inner circle as well. I talked to JD Vance, I talked to Marco Rubio, Stephen Miller, and others. All of it taped, all of it on the record, and the giveaway is that they haven’t been able to challenge a single fact.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
The profile takes an unusually intimate look at Wiles, a veteran political operative long known for projecting unwavering loyalty to her boss.
But in the feature, which drew on 11 interviews conducted over nearly a year with cooperation from the White House, Wiles was surprisingly more forthcoming than her public-facing role typically allows, speaking candidly about President Donald Trump, his inner circle, and the administration’s direction.
At moments, she appeared to concede discomfort with certain policies that have defined Trump’s second term—yes, really.
For instance, at one point, she admitted she advised Trump to be what Vanity Fair described as "more selective" with the decision to pardon January 6 defendants, including the "most violent offenders":
“I said, ‘I am on board with the people that were happenstancers or didn’t do anything violent. And we certainly know what everybody did because the FBI has done such an incredible job.’ In every case, of the ones he was looking at, in every case, they had already served more time than the sentencing guidelines would have suggested."
"So given that, I sort of got on board. ... There have been a couple of times where I’ve been outvoted. And if there’s a tie, he wins.”
She also expressed reservations about billionaire Elon Musk's influence in the decision to cut off foreign aid and conceded that Trump doesn't understand how these agencies work:
"When Elon said, ‘We’re doing this,’ he was already into it. And that’s probably because he knew it would be horrifying to others. But he decided that it was a better approach to shut it down, fire everybody, shut them out, and then go rebuild. Not the way I would do it.”
She even said Vice President JD Vance has been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade" and described Russell Vought, the mind behind Project 2025 who is currently the head of the Office of Management and Budget, as “a right-wing absolute zealot.”
And she also described a very heated clash with Trump at his Miami golf club during the 2016 election cycle—which is, again, a very surprising admission coming from one of the most high-profile White House officials:
“It was a horrific hour-plus at midnight. And I don’t think I’ve seen him that angry since. He was ranting and raving. And I didn’t know whether to argue back or whether to be stoic. What I really wanted to do was cry.”
“I finally said, ‘You know Mr. Trump, if you want somebody to set their hair on fire and be crazy, I’m not your girl. But if you want to win this state, I am. It’s your choice.’ ”
A displeased Wiles later complained about Vanity Fair's "hit piece" in a post on X:
"The article published early this morning is a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history. Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story."
"I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team."
"The truth is the Trump White House has already accomplished more in eleven months than any other President has accomplished in eight years and that is due to the unmatched leadership and vision of President Trump, for whom I have been honored to work for the better part of a decade."
You can see her post below.
@SusieWiles/X
The idea that Wiles didn't know her conversations with Vanity Fair were on the record did not make sense given the scope of the final articles—and people called her out on this.
Notably, one anonymous official expressed concerns about Vanity Fair's article, saying "we're going to get fired for this."
Considering how much the Trump administration attacks the free press—Trump has, of course, branded it "the enemy of the people"—we bet internal conversations are brutal and that others within the inner circle are having serious reservations about Wiles' judgement.
