WASHINGTON — Florida’s veteran political strategist as President-elect Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff Susie Wiles he is moving from his largely behind-the-scenes role as campaign co-chair to the high-profile position of the president’s closest advisor and lawyer.

He has been in political circles for years. So who is agent Wiles, who will be the first woman to step into the White House chief of staff position?

He has decades of experience, most of it in Florida.

The daughter of NFL player and sportscaster Pat Summerall, Wiles worked in the Washington office of New York Rep. Jack Kemp in the 1970s. This was followed by restrictions on him serving as a planner in Ronald Reagan’s campaign and in the White House.

Wiles later traveled to Florida, where he advised two Jacksonville mayors and worked for Rep. Tillie Fowler. After that came statewide campaigns in tough Florida politics; Wiles is credited with helping businessman Rick Scott win the governor’s office.

After briefly managing Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s 2012 presidential campaign, he managed Trump’s efforts in Florida in 2016, and his victory in the state helped him clinch the White House.

He has a history with Ron DeSantis

Two years later, Wiles helped elect Ron DeSantis as governor of Florida. But a rift would develop between the two, eventually leading DeSantis to urge Trump’s 2020 campaign to cut ties with the strategist while the then-president reruns his state campaign.

Wiles ultimately went on to manage Trump’s primary campaign against DeSantis, defeating the Florida governor. Trump campaign aides and their outside allies gleefully mocked DeSantis throughout the race; They made fun of his smile, the way he ate, and accused him of wearing levers in his boots, while also using insider information that many suspected came from Wiles and others in Trump’s campaign. Staff who also worked for DeSantis and had bad experiences.

Wiles had only posted three times on X this year when he made the announcement. Shortly before DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January, Wiles made a rare appearance on social media. He responded to DeSantis’ message that he was clearing his campaign website of upcoming events with a short but clear message: “Bye, bye.”

Most of the time avoids being the center of attention

Joining Trump’s third campaign when it was still in its infancy, Wiles was one of the few senior officials to weather Trump’s entire campaign and was part of the team that put together a much more professional operation for his third White House bid. The president already routinely breached these guardrails.

As Trump celebrated his victory early Wednesday morning, he largely avoided the spotlight, even refusing to take the microphone to speak.

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But he showed that he was not above taking on the tasks reserved for volunteers. At one of Trump’s appearances in Iowa in July of last year, as the former president posed for photos with a long line of voters, Wiles grabbed a clipboard and began approaching people waiting to fill out caucus cards for Trump. leading primary contest.

“If we leave the conference room after a meeting and someone leaves trash on the table, Susie is the person to pick up the trash and put it in the trash can,” said Chris LaCivita, who serves as campaign co-chair with Wiles.

Another of her three posts about Following Wiles’ selection as White House chief of staff, Trump supporter Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida joked to X that he had chosen a “strong, intelligent woman” to be the president-elect’s chief of staff.

He can control some of Trump’s worst impulses

Wiles was able to help contain Trump’s worst impulses; not by scolding or lecturing him, but by gaining his respect and showing him that he is better off following his advice than ignoring it. Toward the end of the campaign, when Trump gave a widely criticized speech in Pennsylvania where he strayed from his talking points and said he wouldn’t care about the media shooting, Wiles quietly stepped outside to stare at him.

Trump frequently referenced Wiles on the campaign trail, openly praising his leadership of what he was often told was the “best-run campaign.”

“He’s incredible. He’s incredible,” he said at a rally in Milwaukee earlier this month.

Will it have staying power?

Trump met with four chiefs of staff during his first administration, including one who served in an acting capacity for a year, at a time when staffing losses were record-breaking.

A chief of staff serves as the president’s confidant, helping implement an agenda and balancing competing political and policy priorities. They also serve as gatekeepers, helping determine who the president spends his time with and who he talks to; It’s an effort that Trump has troubled in the White House.

Trump has repeatedly said that he believes his biggest mistake in his first term was hiring the wrong people. He said he was new to Washington at the time and didn’t know any better.

But Trump now says he knows the “best people” and people to stay away from for business reasons.