Comments attributed to Donald Trump’s chief of staff have triggered fresh controversy, after she reportedly compared his behaviour to that of someone with “an alcoholic’s personality,” despite the former president not drinking alcohol.
In a Vanity Fair profile, Susie Wiles, who previously managed Trump’s campaign and now serves as his chief of staff, used the phrase while trying to explain what she described as Trump’s belief that he can do no wrong. She suggested that this mindset reflects the kind of impulsive and reckless behaviour often associated with alcoholism.
While Trump is known to abstain from alcohol, the report notes that the issue is personal to Wiles. Trump’s late brother, Fred Trump Jr., struggled with alcoholism, and Wiles herself grew up with an alcoholic parent. According to the article, she even helped her mother organise an intervention that eventually led to her father getting sober.
Following publication of the story, Wiles pushed back publicly. Writing on X on Tuesday morning, she dismissed the article as “a disingenuously framed hit piece on me” and said “significant context was disregarded.”
The comments have added to scrutiny of Trump’s conduct in recent weeks, marked by a series of controversial remarks and public clashes. Critics say the latest revelations only deepen questions about his temperament as his second term continues to generate backlash.