The inside story of Trump’s election night fury and Susie Wiles frantic battle to survive

Headlines followed Susie Wiles all year, hinting that Donald Trump’s chief of staff and “ice maiden” was on borrowed time.She was irritated by some of his big appointments. He was said to increasingly resent being told what to do, cutting her out of several key decisions.Not all of the headlines were true, but the direction of travel was unmistakable. “It was all simmering for a while,” a former administration official told Secrets. “It came to a boil this week.”Relations collapsed as the extent of Republican midterm defeats became clear. Trump berated his chief of staff on Tuesday evening, Secrets has learned, setting in motion an extraordinary 72 hours as Wiles battled to survive and other top officials briefed against her, as they tried to protect their own influence.Sources close to the president told the Wall Street Journal, for example, that Wiles and her political team had been telling the president that Republicans could hold the Senate. The implication was clear: She was offering bad advice.Boris Epshteyn, Trump’s top legal adviser who has become the most important person in his orbit, along with Corey Lewandowski, who has been out in the cold since leaving the Department of Homeland Security under a cloud earlier this year, and Bill Pulte, whose stint as acting director of national intelligence was opposed by Wiles, all encouraged Trump to shake up his inner circle.At the same time, another circle of White House officials and Republicans said War Secretary Pete Hegseth was to blame for his role in pushing for the war with Iran.One Trumpworld source said pushing out Hegseth would have been a way for Wiles and her political operation to survive.However, Trump is a big fan of his Pentagon chief and did not want to be seen to act under pressure from negative headlines.“He’s doing a very good job,” he said about Hegseth on Wednesday.Instead, Wiles announced her departure on Friday afternoon before Trump named Stephen Miller as her replacement.“Susie Wiles, who has done an outstanding job, will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation,” he said. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles steps off Marine One as President Donald Trump, foreground left, walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) The decision will not have been made lightly. She was one of the figures who was close to him during his years in the political wilderness, mapping out his extraordinary comeback in 2024.That carried weight with a president who loves nothing better than reminiscing about the campaign with the people who flew with him on Trump Force One.The White House did not dispute Secrets’ account of tensions boiling over on Tuesday, and instead pointed to the president’s public comments today.READ MORE: WHO IS STEPHEN MILLER?Attention now turns to what comes next.Any new chief of staff will want to bring in their own people. Friday’s changes are likely to be just the start of an overhaul, said the former administration official.“There’s going to be a domino effect from this, they said. “Expect to see more changes.”What will that mean for White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, for example, one of the people brought in by Wiles.“I will always be indebted to @SusieWiles for bringing me back into Trump World during the in-between period,” he posted in a tribute to her “unimpeachable character. “She didn’t have to, but she did.”TOM ROGAN: TRUMP ANSWERS DEFEAT BY DEFIANTLY NAMING STEPHEN MILLER CHIEF OF STAFFFor Miller, it is a reminder of his ability to survive at the top of Trump World. Secrets is told he lost favor earlier this year during the heavy handed immigration crackdown when Renée Good was shot dead in Minneapolis.He survived that reversal of fortunes. And now he will have a bigger brief and is expected to be a key voice in working out the next steps in Iran.His elevation offers Hegseth some cover. He is much closer to Miller than he was to Wiles. Their families have appeared together at White House events, and Hegseth and his wife even appeared on a podcast run by Miller’s wife, Katie.Whatever comes next, one thing is clear after weeks of speculation about personnel changes and shakeups: Trump is in charge.“This is a great way to change the news cycle,” said the former official, “and no one is better at doing that than him.”You are reading a bonus edition of Washington Secrets, a guide to power and politics in D.C. and beyond. It is written by Rob Crilly, who you can reach at secrets@washingtonexaminer.com with your comments, story tips, and suggestions. If a friend sent you this and you’d like to sign up, click here.