FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump sits with Susie Wiles as he attends the New York Jets football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Pittsburgh. Evan Vucci/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) -President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday announced that Susie Wiles, one of his two campaign managers, will be his White House chief of staff, entrusting a top position to a political operative who helped him win election.
The appointment was the first of what is expected to be a flurry of staffing announcements as Trump girds for a return to the White House on Jan. 20.
Wiles will be the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff.
“Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history, and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns,” Trump said in a statement.
“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected," Trump said. "I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”
The Republican Trump has been secluded at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, since defeating Democrat Kamala Harris in Tuesday's election.
Trump is considering a wide array of people for top jobs in his administration, many of them familiar figures from his 2017-2021 presidency, four sources said.
Two of the sources told Reuters that Wiles, a long-time Florida-based political strategist, is viewed as trustworthy and gets plaudits for helping to manage Trump's successful run for the presidency.
As the gatekeeper to the president, the chief of staff typically wields great influence. The person manages White House staff, organizes the president's time and schedule and maintains contact with other government departments and lawmakers.
Trump chose Wiles over former House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who is close to Trump and has been a frequent visitor to Mar-a-Lago.
Sources said McCarthy had been in contention as well as Brooke Rollins, who was the former acting director of Trump's Domestic Policy Council.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who was an acting intelligence chief in Trump's first term and was with him when he recently met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in New York, is under consideration for secretary of state.
Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan, is also under consideration for that position, the sources said.
Hagerty, asked by CNN about being considered for a role in Trump's administration, said, "I'll leave the speculation to the speculators."
(Reporting By Steve Holland, Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Ross Colvin, Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis)
