Break It Down!

If I were to hazard a guess, I doubt there are very many non-MAGA folks who are familiar with the name Susan Summerall Wiles. In fact, more people are likely to be familiar with her father, Pat Summerall, who played in the NFL, but gained legendary status as an announcer for the League with CBS, Fox, and ESPN. But enough about Pat. The post is about his daughter who has carved out a niche for herself in her chosen profession.

Susie, as she’s known, has had several important roles in politics, none more noteworthy than the last two; Co-Chair of Donald Trump’s 2024 Presidential Campaign, and current White House Chief of Staff. She is universally respected Republican circles, and she brought the kind of electricity and magic to Trump’s second campaign that Kellyanne Conway brought to the first one. Moreover, she seemed to have handled the multi-varied demands of Chief of Staff with a level of dexterity that none of the several men who held the role in Trump’s first term mastered.

And for the most part, she did it all quietly. Until yesterday. Then, from out of the blue, Susie changed the game. I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Wiles was interviewed by Chris Whipple for Vanity Fair. According to Whipple, Wiles revealed a number of factoids that differ, substantially in some cases, from the Trump Administration’s talking points. The story hit yesterday, and the White House has been doing proverbial clean-up on Aisle 3 ever since.

Before I List a few of the assertions Whipple says Wiles made, I will fist disclose her objection…which was many things, but not a denial. Wiles said yesterday, after the article hit:

“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.” She went on to say:

“Significant context was disregarded, and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story.” She further added:

“None of this will stop our relentless pursuit of Making America Great Again!”

Now, before I go on, allow me to elucidate what separates what Whipple reported from what Wiles retorted.

When Wiles, and White House insiders suggested her comments had been taken out of context, or misconstrued, Whipple produced receipts. When the New York Times called and said Wiles said she’d been misquoted or misinterpreted…Whipple played the tapes. Oops!

By the way, it’s worth noting that the interview was in fact, more like 11 interviews. Whipple met with, or talked to Wiles 11 times, over 11 months, for a total of about 11 hours, or roughly an hour each time. It basically a Year in Review summation of Trump’s first year, term two. Sort of an homage…in reverse. 

On Donald Trump: 

She said of the President, “He has an alcoholic’s personality.” She of course, was not suggesting the President (Who doesn’t drink) is an alcoholic. Rather that he has the kind of mood swings and obsessive nature about (actually many) things that an alcoholic might.

On J,D. Vance:

(Basically, in comparison to Marco Rubio) “His conversion was a little bit more , sort of political.” This was in recognition of the fact that prior to the Vice President’s Senate run (for which he needed Trump’s support), Vance was virtually a Never-Trumper. He actually compared Trump to Hitler. By contrast, she suggested Rubio, who also did an ideological shape-shift from Little Marco to Trump’s Do-it-all Secretary of State.

She also said of Vance, “He’s been a conspiracy theorist for years.” As proof, I offer, do you remember the “Haitians are eating the dogs” ruse? A conspiracy theory Vance doubled down on, and that to my knowledge, he never disavowed. Then he claimed Fentanyl was being brought into the country as a plot to kill conservatives, and then…the stolen election (2020). Enough said.

On Elon Musk:

He’s an avowed ketamine(user). And he sleeps in a sleeping bag in the EOB (Executive Office Building) in the daytime.”

On Pam Bondi:

“I think (AG Bondi) completely whiffed on appreciating that that was the very targeted group that cared about this…First they gave them bonders full of nothingness. And then, she said that the witness list, or client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk.”

On Ghislaine Maxwell’s move to a better prison: It was (Blanche’s) suggestion…The presid4nt was ticked…The president was mighty unhappy. I don’t know why they moved her. Neither does the president.”

On Bill Clinton (my personal favorite):

“There is no evidence Bill Clinton visited Epstein’s island, according to Wiles; as for whether there was anything incriminating about Clinton in the files, ‘The president was wrong about that.’

On Trump and Maduro:

“He wants to keep on blowing up boats until Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say that he will.” In other words, unlike the whole drug charade the White House and Republicans tout, Trump’s intent appears to be regime change, and he’s made that clear, at least to Susie.

On the question of retribution:

Back in March, I asked Wiles: “Do you ever go in to Trump and say, “Look, this is not supposed to be a retribution tour?” “Yes, I do.’ She replied. ‘We have s loose agreement that score settling will end before the first 90 days are over.’” Suffice it to say, that did not happen!

She added, “I don’t think he’s on a retribution tour. A governing principle for him is, ‘I don’t want what happened to me to happen to somebody else.’

And so people that have done bad things need to get out of government. In some cases, it may look like retribution. And there may be an element of that from time to time. Who would blame him? Not me.”

On the case of Letitia James:

“Well, that might be the one retribution.”

On the economy:

“Wiles told me she thought Trump should pivot more often from world affairs to kitchen-table issues. ’More talk about the domestic economy and less about global matters.”

That’s ten items, in no particular rank order. You have to know, that 11 hours of interview material covered so much more than these ten items. One of those things was that Trump was included in the files. But you already know that. This post was designed to elevate several things you either didn’t know or wouldn’t expect Trump’s Chief of Staff to go on, and on, and on about. But she did. The most interesting thing about this breaking story is the way the Trump White House and its surrogates have responded. There has been universal support for Wiles. So far. Most seasoned Trump watchers are saying, just give it time. At the very least, there are sure to be bruised feelings, and lacerated egos. Over time…there are bound to be consequences and repercussions. “Tales From the Inner Sanctum!”

I’m done; holla back!

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Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box. Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/trump-susie-wiles-interview-exclusive-part-1

Tales From the Inner Sanctum