Amid reports of alleged West Wing infighting, President Donald Trump squashed one “fake story” about a “phenomenal” member of his team.
“… she’s gonna be here for a long time.”
In the backdrop of the blink-and-you-missed-it tenure of Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary, reports have been circulating about insiders jockeying for position and greater sway with the administration. A keystone of such claims was summarily knocked out by Trump on Friday when he responded to rumors that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles could be shown the door, “Zero chance. Zero.”
Speaking with the press as he departed Washington, D.C. for a rally in Georgia, the chief executive continued, “It was a fake story, let me just tell you. The Susie Wiles story was a fake story. She’s been incredible. We’ve had maybe the most successful first two years — and it’s not even two years — in the history of presidency.”
“She’s been my chief of staff. She’s smart, she’s tough, she just went through a lot with the cancer surgery and the whole thing, and she recovered, fully recovered. She’s phenomenal,” added Trump.
🚨 TRUMP JUST SHUT DOWN THE FAKE NEWS ON SUSIE WILES.
President Trump didn’t hold back: “The Susie Wiles story was a FAKE story. She has been incredible… They made up Fake News, they released it knowing it was a fake story.”
Then he made it crystal clear: “Susie is here, and she’s gonna be here for a long time.”
This is the same old playbook. The media can’t beat Trump, so they go after the people around him and hope something sticks. It didn’t.
Susie Wiles is one of the best chiefs of staff this country has ever had, and the President has her back.
Nice try, Fake News. She isn’t going anywhere. https://t.co/h1hNn2Pm5z
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 16, 2026
“We told that to Politico. We said, ‘The story is totally wrong.’ And the only one that matters is me because I’m the one that makes the decision. So they made up fake news; they released it knowing it was a fake story,” asserted the president. “Susie is here, and she’s gonna be here for a long time.”
Worth remembering, along with CNN and MS NOW, Politico was banned from the White House in September. As the president put it on Truth Social, “It is called the Oval Office, and it should be treated with Decorum, Respect, and Dignity, not defiled by Third Rate Clowns, who purposefully distort, twist, and degrade with everything they write or publish.”
“Virtually every story about me, or anything having to do with me, is negative, wrong and, in many cases, DANGEROUS for our Country!” furthered Trump.
Following its report alleging the chief executive was seeking opinions on a suitable replacement for Wiles, Politico was accused of “breathless speculation” on Friday in a report claiming that the chief of staff was responsible for arranging Zacharia’s appearance with Fox News’ Sean Hannity whom, in Trump’s own words, treated her “a little bit tough.”
“And Hannity wasn’t the nail in her coffin: her hit [on Fox & Friends] this morning was, as well as her weird answer on being a lawyer,” a senior White House official was cited as saying.
Countering the report, White House communications director Steven Cheung contended, “All of this breathless speculation is just that — speculation. And it’s fiction that’s not even creative. Katie took on a very important job, and she will continue to support the President as she transitions to a new role. She is an amazing teammate and tremendous talent.”
Meanwhile, a report from the New York Post also suggested that Wiles’ influence was diminished, crediting Trump with the “on-the-spot job offer” while his chief of staff was absent from the interview.
As the newspaper cited a former senior Trump aide who suggested Wiles would be “smart” to “leave and go make money without a DJT problem,” it further suggested that critics like Corey Lewandowski have been pushing for Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to take over as chief of staff, a point he himself denied.
“All the infighting [is] so so great two weeks ahead of midterms,” an administration official was cited as saying as allies of Wiles, Chris LaCivita and James Blair took heat from Trump over a potential conflict after reports circulated about them advising pro-Russian politicians in Bosnia.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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