Trump’s new chief of staff is an unassuming figure in his brash inner circle. She’s also one of its most effective operators.
CNN
Dozens of people beamed alongside Donald Trump early Wednesday morning as he was elected America’s next president – including three generations of family, longtime friends, key advisers, his running mate, close political allies and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White – but the architect of his remarkable political comeback was nearly invisible amid the celebratory throng.
Dozens of people beamed alongside Donald Trump early Wednesday morning as he was elected America’s next president – including three generations of family, longtime friends, key advisers, his running mate, close political allies and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White – but the architect of his remarkable political comeback was nearly invisible amid the celebratory throng. That’s often how Susie Wiles prefers it. Wiles, the understated yet formidable force behind Trump’s third presidential bid, has operated in a sphere of discretion, wielding influence without the spotlight. Now, as the president-elect pivots toward his return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Wiles finds herself in an unprecedented position: On Thursday, Trump named her his incoming White House chief of staff, a role that cements her as his most trusted adviser and makes her the first woman to ever hold the title. “Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected,” Trump said in a statement. “Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again.” For Wiles, 67, the new title is as improbable and as it is historic. A strategist known more for quiet calculations than public-facing gestures, at first glance she appears a mismatch for Trump and his colossal orbit of fame seekers, celebrities, firebrands and megalomaniacs. A grandmother and dog lover, she likes to bake and bird-watch. In public, she hides behind a pair of polarized aviators. When people talk to her, the person they often see back is themselves.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan are well matched, rhetorically forceful opposites. And they have been clashing for more than a decade over an increasingly relevant question of presidential power: How easy should it be for the president to fire the heads of independent agencies?
The Army gynecologist described in a recent lawsuit as a “predator in uniform” is now being held in the Bell County Jail in Texas, “after apparently violating conditions of liberty imposed by his commander,” according to an Army spokesperson.
Brian Walshe on Thursday came face-to-face for the first time with the man who had been having an affair with his wife before her death, as he took the stand to testify in Walshe’s murder trial.
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Texas to use a congressional map that will boost President Donald Trump’s effort to keep Republicans in control of Congress, blocking a lower court decision that found the new boundaries were likely unconstitutional because they were drawn based on race.
The US military carried out a strike Thursday on a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people on board, according to a social media post from US Southern Command.
A grand jury voted against indicting New York Attorney General Letitia James after being asked to look at the mortgage fraud case against her a second time, according to multiple people familiar with the development Thursday.
National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC, can remain there for now, after a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily froze a judge’s ruling that would have soon required them to leave the city’s streets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bad week just got worse. That’s after the long-awaited release Thursday of an inspector general’s report on his sharing of highly sensitive military attack plans on the unclassified app Signal earlier this year.
President Donald Trump has hired a new architect for the White House ballroom amid disputes between the president and his architect originally contracted to complete the project, several sources have told CNN.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.
If nothing else, the controversy over the Trump administration’s second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean has surfaced a long-overdue debate about its already legally dubious first strikes.
Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.
Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.