Trump Gushes Over Ice Maiden as Firing Rumors Swirl
The effusive praise comes days after a report that Trump was shopping around for potential replacements.
The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im
President Donald Trump gushed about his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, days after reports emerged that he was sounding out potential replacements.
Speaking Monday at a Rose Garden ceremony on women’s health, Trump called his chief of staff a “tremendous fighter” following her treatment for breast cancer.
“I don’t know if Susie wants this brought up,” he began. “But as many of you know, Susie recently won her battle against a very tough opponent, breast cancer. It wasn’t easy… and she got through it, and she’s tough. She’s a tremendous fighter.”
Trump shouted-out his chief of staff as he signed an executive order on Monday.
Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS
Wiles, 69, who is known as the “Ice Maiden,” continued working during treatment after her diagnosis was announced in March. She said she was cancer-free in September.
The effusive praise came days after POLITICO Playbook reported that Trump had been calling friends to discuss possible replacements, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, special envoy Steve Witkoff, housing chief Bill Pulte, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and New York Yankees president Randy Levine.
Miller in particular has sparked fear among Trump critics, with former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews calling his potential promotion a ‘terrifying prospect’ and describing him as ‘bats--t crazy.’
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The speculation comes amid reports of Trump’s growing frustration with his weak poll numbers ahead of the midterms.
Trump denied the report, saying Wiles had his “COMPLETE confidence.” On Friday, he told reporters there was “zero chance” he would replace her.
At the ceremony, the Nobel-hungry president also couldn’t resist claiming some credit for Wiles’ recovery, saying, “We went through it, we got her through it.”
Joined by first lady Melania Trump, the president signed an executive order titled “Advancing Women’s Health to Improve Outcomes in All Phases of Life.” It aims to create a women’s health division at the National Institutes of Health and a White House Women’s Health Task Force, co-chaired by Wiles and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The rollout comes despite the administration’s efforts to cut NIH funding and shrink the federal healthcare workforce, and the order includes no specific funding goals.
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, who leads NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center, told USA Today that Trump’s record on abortion rights, healthcare cuts, and scientific research was “at odds with” the initiative’s promises.
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