2024 US Election

With her appointment as chief of staff to President-elect Donald Trump, Susie Wiles moves from a largely behind-the-scenes role of campaign co-chair to one of the most prominent positions in a new White House administration.

The 67-year-old will become the first woman to serve in the post for any U.S. president when she assumes the role as the president's closest adviser in January.

In announcing his decision Thursday, Trump said Wiles is "tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected.” It was his first appointment since winning Tuesday’s election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud," Trump said in his statement.

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Wiles largely avoided the spotlight during her time as co-chair of Trump’s successful election campaign and was credited — along with co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita — with bringing some discipline to Trump’s free-wheeling, off-script campaign style.

She didn’t speak during Trump’s victory celebration early Wednesday morning when he called her to the podium, and she refused to take the microphone.

Wiles rarely gives televised interviews and tends to avoid the spotlight, a contrast with LaCivita, who is known for being outspoken.

For someone of her stature, she is not well-known in political circles. During his victory speech, Trump referred to Wiles as the "ice maiden.”

She is one of Trump’s most trusted advisers. During a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earlier this month, he said: “She’s incredible. Incredible.”

Top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio told Politico in April, “There is nobody, I think, that has the wealth of information that she does. Nobody in our orbit. Nobody.”

While Wiles is a somewhat enigmatic figure, she has a long career of working behind the scenes in U.S. politics.

Shortly after she graduated from the University of Maryland in 1979, she went to work for New York Congressman Jack Kemp and joined Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1980.

She eventually moved to Florida where she advised the campaigns of two Florida mayors and helped then-businessman Rick Scott transition to politics in his successful 2010 campaign for governor.

She managed Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr.’s presidential bid in 2012, and managed Florida for Trump’s 2016 campaign. She joined Ron DeSantis’ race for governor in 2018, but she parted ways with him after a falling out in 2019.

Wiles made a rare appearance on social media shortly before DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January. “Bye, bye,” she wrote.

She went on to run Trump’s primary campaign against DeSantis, which Trump easily won.

Wiles is the only campaign manager to survive an entire Trump campaign and is known for her ability to tamp down his mercurial, sometimes volatile behavior.

In one anecdote reported by The Associated Press, during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania when Trump strayed off his talking points and quipped about not minding if members of the media were shot, she came out and silently stared at him until he got back on track.

That ability should serve her well in her new role. In his last four years in office, Trump went through four chiefs of staff, a record for modern presidents.

Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press.

As India looks ahead to President-elect Donald Trump taking charge in Washington, there is optimism the strategic relationship built by the two countries in recent years will strengthen. India also hopes to benefit if Trump takes a less confrontational approach to Russia, say analysts.

New Delhi also is bracing for turbulence in trade ties, though, which could be affected by Trump’s “America first” agenda.

In his congratulatory message posted on social media platform X, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Trump “my friend” and said, “I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-U.S. Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership.”

Modi shared photos of the two leaders hugging and Trump’s visit to India during his first term in 2020 — a time when Trump shared warm relations with Modi.

Analysts in New Delhi expect that India will remain a key partner for Washington.

“Compared to most other countries, particularly some of the USA’s closest partners, perhaps India is better placed because of its centrality in the Indo-Pacific and the role it plays in counterbalancing China,” said Harsh Pant, vice president for studies and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

“Given that Trump had invested in this partnership in his earlier term, there is hope it will continue the same trajectory,” he said.

The Quad group — a partnership among the United States, Japan, Australia and India, which had been dormant earlier — was revived under the previous Trump administration with an eye on China.

However, a sense of uncertainty lingers in the corridors of power in New Delhi. “The relationship may face hiccups, which we cannot anticipate at the moment given Trump’s leadership style and unpredictability,” said Pant.

India also hopes that confrontation between the U.S. and Russia will lessen under the Trump administration. During the campaign, Trump had said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war without elaborating. In the past he has spoken of having a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“If U.S. hostility to Russia lessens under Trump, we believe that it would reduce the extreme and overwhelming Russian dependence on China, which is good from India’s perspective,” according to Sreeram Chaulia, dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs at O.P. Jindal Global University.

Despite a recent thaw in ties with China, India remains wary of Beijing.

Others point out that maintaining India’s time-tested ties with Russia could become easier under a Trump presidency. India refused to join Western sanctions against Russia or condemn the war in Ukraine, positions that became an irritant in Washington.

“Trump appears to have a less strident approach to Russia, and that will help India by making it simpler to balance relations between Washington and Russia,” said Anand Kumar, associate fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.

"Tariff king"

While security ties will likely stay on track, there are worries over whether trade relations will take a hit under Trump, who has said he will follow an “America first” agenda and impose tariffs on countries that have trade surpluses with Washington.

The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner — two-way trade last year totaled almost $120 billion, with a surplus of $30 billion in India’s favor.

During his previous term, Trump called India a “tariff king,” criticized high duties that New Delhi imposed on American products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and terminated India’s designation as a developing nation that had allowed businesses to export hundreds of products duty-free to the United States. India retaliated by raising duties on some American products.

Such tensions could be exacerbated because Trump is likely to push New Delhi to lower import duties for American companies. “This will be a slippery slope for India; he could demand market concessions,” said Chaulia.

Indian officials, however, have sounded an optimistic note.

"There was already a reordering of the supply chains taking place. It is very likely that in view of the [U.S.] election results, this would accelerate. Some of it will be disruptive, but we in India see it as an opportunity," Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar Subrahmanyan told business leaders in Australia on Thursday.

He was referring to the trend of companies such as Apple setting up manufacturing bases in India as they looked to diversify production from China.

But analysts say Trump could take a diametrically different approach.

“He has this philosophy of onshoring, that is bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. rather than friendshoring which Biden used to talk about — that is encouraging businesses to move to friendly countries. So, the overall idea that U.S. businesses that are leaving China would think of India as an alternative — that model Trump may not encourage,” said Chaulia.

Defense and technology

There also are questions about how the defense and technology cooperation between India and the U.S. that gained momentum under the Biden administration will move forward. India has pushed for co-production of defense technology rather than relying solely on direct purchases of military equipment; sustaining that under Trump may pose a challenge, according to analysts.

“The U.S. has operated under the assumption that boosting India’s capabilities is in America’s self-interest, especially in balancing China. But Trump is likely to demand some Indian ‘pro’ for American ‘quid,’” analyst C. Raja Mohan wrote in the Indian Express newspaper on Thursday.

“India may find itself on a steep learning curve as it figures out there may be no ‘free lunch’ under Trump’s second term,” Mohan wrote.

Still, as India prepares to navigate a Trump presidency, there is an overall sense of confidence.

“I don’t think India is as worried as some other world capitals. New Delhi understands that if Trump’s obsession with China continues, that gives India greater space to maneuver,” said Pant.