“De facto leader” of the Trump campaign is considered to be in power

“Wiles and Trump are loyal to each other because Trump brought Susie back from the political dead after DeSantis,” a source told The Hill in 2022.

The key to her appeal was reportedly that, unlike other members of Trump's entourage who tried to break free from him, Ms. Wiles was not looking to gain political capital in return.

When she first accepted the job of running Trump's campaign ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, she reportedly only asked for her travel expenses to be covered.

“She is solely focused on doing everything she can for my father,” Donald Trump Jr. previously said of Ms. Wiles. “It's not about making money, it's not about getting press, it's not about getting credit, it's about doing whatever it takes to fight for my dad.”

Ms. Wiles has been repeatedly described as “the most powerful Republican you don’t know” and “the most feared” political activist in America. She is reportedly one of the few people the president respects enough to listen when she disagrees with him.

Bear pit of politics

Taking over as Trump's chief of staff would be no easy task. Of her four predecessors, all of whom were men, one was fired via Twitter, two are now outspoken opponents of the president-elect and the last, Mark Meadows, is still being pursued over allegations related to an attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

But Ms. Wiles is no stranger to the male-dominated bear pit of Republican politics.

Ms. Wiles was born and raised in New Jersey. She is the daughter of the late NFL star and broadcaster Pat Summerall. The campaign manager gained her first experience in politics as a planner in Ronald Regan's successful election campaign in 1980.

In the 1990s, she gained a reputation for success as chief of staff to Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney and Florida Congresswoman Tillie Fowler.

“I have rarely met anyone with her sense of policy and policy and how they intersect,” Mr Delaney said previously. “She knows what to emphasize to resonate with the public.”

As a young employee of the Reagan administration, she experienced her first scandal when her boss, Raymond Donovan, was investigated for alleged ties to the Florida Mafia.

Her reputation came under further scrutiny amid allegations that the former president showed her secret documents for which he was impeached.

There is also speculation about her daughter Caroline Wiles. The younger Wiles was hired by the White House as deputy assistant to the president and planning director, although the Washington Post noted that her incomplete degree gave her an “unusual background” for the leadership position.

Broad coalition

Susie Wiles has been CEO of Trump's Save America PAC since March 2021 and has united a broad coalition of Republicans under the Trump banner to carry him to victory. “She has to interact with people who think (the election was stolen) and people who don't think,” political strategist Michael Caputo told CNN.

Her ability as a dealmaker suggests she is willing to compromise with various factions within her party to effect change.

“I come from a very traditional background,” she once told Politico. “In my early career, things like manners were important and a certain level of decorum was expected. And so I understand that today's GOP is different. There are changes we have to live with in order to achieve the things we are trying to do.”

Those worried about what a second Trump term will look like can take comfort in the fact that Ms. Wiles is widely seen as a moderating influence on her boss's more volatile tendencies.

“Their power over Trump is based on their ability to provide him with a full range of options,” a source previously told The Hill. “Because Trump is impulsive, Wiles makes sure Trump has heard all the options, pros and cons. She makes sure he has all the information.

“When he does that, Trump makes good decisions. If he doesn’t, bad decisions will be made.”

Former Florida congressman Carlos Curbelo sums up the sentiment of many Republicans: “If Donald Trump becomes president, I want Susie Wiles to be there.”