Trump calls report about Susie Wiles on the chopping block ‘TOTAL FAKE NEWS’

THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?

SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).

Trump is reportedly asking allies about replacing Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to four unnamed sources cited by Politico.
Stephen Miller, Kevin McCarthy and even New York Yankees president Randy Levine are among five possible successors reportedly discussed.
Trump calls the report “TOTAL FAKE NEWS,” declares his “COMPLETE confidence” in Wiles, and leaves her anonymous critics with some explaining to do.

LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).

Is Susie Wiles headed for the White House exit, or are some ambitious Washington insiders trying to show her the door?

President Donald Trump is reportedly asking political allies whether it’s time to replace his powerful chief of staff, according to a Thursday report from Politico Playbook. But there’s one rather significant obstacle to the palace-intrigue narrative: Trump himself says the whole thing is nonsense.

“TOTAL FAKE NEWS,” the president declared, attacking Politico’s credibility before delivering an unmistakable endorsement of his longtime adviser.

“Susie Wiles is my loyal and longest serving Chief of Staff — there is a reason for that,” Trump said. “She has been with me since the beginning, is my trusted advisor, and has my COMPLETE confidence.”

NEW in @Playbook: Trump is asking close allies about CoS Susie Wiles, and floating possible future successors, per sources

Knives are out for Wiles—with rivals privately putting recent headlines surrounding her daughter’s foreign lobbying in front of POTUS urging he make changes, per sources

One senior elected GOP official who received a call from Trump said the president had raised “the first honest questions about Susie”

Wiles has survived past efforts, and so far has yet to discuss how long she’ll remain chief of staff with the president, per source familiar

Trump in statement to Playbook forcefully stood by his longest serving CoS

More with @DashaBurns:

— Will Steakin (@wsteaks) October 15, 2026

That doesn’t sound much like a farewell party.

Nevertheless, Politico cited four people with direct knowledge of conversations in which Trump allegedly sought opinions about Wiles and possible replacements as the November midterm elections approach.

President Trump is privately calling allies about his once untouchable chief of staff, Susie Wiles.

Playbook has exclusive reporting on sharks circling around Wiles — and the names Trump is floating to possibly take her place.

🎧 Playbook Pod: https://t.co/OmQDFL7OIs https://t.co/ugtRhMAqJz

— POLITICO (@politico) October 15, 2026

And the rumored replacement list is anything but ordinary.

Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is reportedly under consideration, along with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.

Then there’s Randy Levine, president of the New York Yankees. Apparently, running the White House and running the Bronx Bombers now belong on the same résumé.

But the more revealing part of the report may be what’s happening around Wiles rather than what Trump himself is supposedly considering.

“She’s burned a lot of people,” one Republican operative close to the White House told Politico.

According to the report, Wiles’ critics have been forwarding Trump unfavorable stories involving members of her political circle, including longtime Trump associates James Blair and Chris LaCivita, along with Wiles’ daughter, Katie.

The controversy centers partly on consulting and lobbying relationships involving Republika Srpska, the predominantly Serb entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Katie Wiles is a partner at Continental Strategy, a lobbying firm that signed a contract worth $35,000 a month to represent Republika Srpska. The firm maintains that she did not lobby U.S. officials on its behalf.

One senior outside Trump adviser accused people in Wiles’ orbit of “monetizing his ecosystem pretty dramatically.”

The White House isn’t buying the broader story.

Spokesperson Danielle Alvarez dismissed the anonymous sources as people who “know nothing,” describing the administration as a “united team focused on his America First agenda – not the egos and political games of anonymous outsiders.”

The Independent reported Thursday that Wiles has recently been left out of several important West Wing decisions, including Trump’s selection of Katie Zacharia to replace Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary.

According to that account, Wiles had been interested in CNN commentator Scott Jennings for the position, but Trump made the Zacharia appointment while Wiles was unavailable. The circumstances surrounding that decision have been disputed in other reporting, and no public confirmation establishes that the appointment signaled a break between Trump and Wiles.

For Wiles, who helped engineer Trump’s political comeback and became the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff, the latest controversy arrives after a challenging personal year. She announced in September that she was cancer-free following treatment for breast cancer, thanking the president for his support.

There’s certainly no shortage of people willing to talk anonymously about her future.