前白宫幕僚长米克·穆尔瓦尼表示，他预计现任幕僚长苏西·怀尔斯将在中期选举后离职，但她的离职将按照她自己的条件进行，此前有报道称她可能已经失去了特朗普总统的信任。“如果她离开，我认为她很可能会离开，但这不一定是因为她失去了特朗普的青睐，”穆尔瓦尼在接受NewsNation《国会山报》周日节目采访时表示。
Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said he expects current chief of staff Susie Wiles to leave her post after the midterm elections, but her departure would be on her own terms after reports suggested she may have lost President Trump’s confidence. “If she leaves, and I think she probably will, it’s not necessarily because she’s fallen out of favor with Trump,” Mulvaney said in an interview with NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.”
“这只是一个自然的时机来做出这种改变，”他补充道。穆尔瓦尼曾在特朗普第一个任期期间担任代理幕僚长，他表示，尽管外界对怀尔斯在白宫的未来有诸多猜测，但她仍然是政府中的重要人物。关于怀尔斯与总统关系的猜测是在前白宫新闻秘书凯蒂·扎卡里亚备受争议的雇佣和随后被快速解雇的背景下出现的。有报道称，怀尔斯曾与将扎卡里亚纳入政府的决定保持距离，但特朗普仍然坚持这样做。
“It’s just a natural sort of time to make that change,” he added. Mulvaney, who served as Trump’s acting chief of staff during his first term, said Wiles remains an influential figure in the administration despite speculation about her future at the White House. Speculation over Wiles’ relationship with the president came amid the controversial hiring and quick firing of former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia. Reports suggest Wiles had distanced herself from the decision to bring Zacharia into the administration, which Trump chose to do anyway.
“我认为她可能透露出自己并未参与凯蒂·扎卡里亚的雇佣，”穆尔瓦尼说，并将其描述为幕僚长办公室少数几起泄露事件之一。Politico报道称，怀尔斯帮助安排了扎卡里亚与塞恩·汉尼蒂在福克斯新闻的采访，在这次采访中，特朗普的长期朋友对她的法律资历和首次新闻发布会表现不佳进行了质问。有消息称，特朗普在观看她与汉尼蒂的采访以及在亲MAGA的早晨节目《福克斯与朋友》中的表现后解雇了扎卡里亚，一位白宫高级官员向Politico表示，这成为“压垮她的最后一根稻草”，此外还有她“对自己是律师这一身份的奇怪回答”。
“I think she probably leaked it out that she was not involved in the hiring of Katie Zacharia,” Mulvaney said, describing it as one of the few leaks to emerge from the chief of staff’s office. Politico reported that Wiles helped set up Zacharia’s Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, where the longtime friend of Trump grilled her about her legal credentials and shaky first press briefing. Trump reportedly fired Zacharia after watching her interviews with Hannity and on the MAGA-friendly morning show “Fox & Friends,” which a senior White House official described to Politico as “the nail in her coffin” alongside her “her weird answer on being a lawyer.”
穆尔瓦尼指出，随后有报道称怀尔斯可能参与了让扎卡里亚失去工作的过程，他认为这进一步证明她仍然拥有相当大的影响力。特朗普也公开为怀尔斯辩护，驳斥了关于她工作岗位不保的任何猜测。
Mulvaney noted the subsequent reports of Wiles’ possible involvement in putting Zacharia out of a job, which he viewed as further evidence that she continues to wield considerable influence. Trump also publicly defended Wiles, dismissing any speculation that her job was in jeopardy.
“完全是假新闻《政治》杂志不关心事实、诚信或诚实的新闻报道 — — 这就是我把他们赶出白宫的原因！”特朗普在向该媒体发表的声明中说。“苏西·怀尔斯是我忠诚且任职时间最长的幕僚长 — — 她之所以如此，是有原因的。她自一开始就一直在我身边，是我的可信顾问，并且得到了我完全的信任。”《华盛顿邮报》周五报道称，由于怀尔斯可能辞去其重要职位的猜测，白宫内部爆发了权力斗争。
“TOTAL FAKE NEWS Politico doesn’t care about facts, integrity, or honest journalism — it’s why I kicked them out of the White House!”Trump said in a statement to the outlet. “Susie Wiles is my loyal and longest serving Chief of Staff — there is a reason for that. She has been with me since the beginning, is my trusted advisor, and has my COMPLETE confidence.”The Washington Post reported Friday that a power struggle has erupted in the White House amid speculation that Wiles may step down from her powerful position.
多名高级政府官员据称已经开始为自己定位为潜在继任者，其中包括副幕僚长斯蒂芬·米勒、环境保护局局长李·泽尔丁以及联邦住房金融局局长比尔·普尔特。
Several senior administration officials have reportedly begun positioning themselves as potential successors, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.