President-elect Donald Trump praises his campaign senior adviser Susie Wiles during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 6 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump has tapped Wiles to serve as his chief of staff when he takes office in January.

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump has named his first appointee for his upcoming term: campaign manager Susie Wiles will serve as White House chief of staff.

Wiles will be the first woman to become White House chief of staff.

Wiles quietly ran Trump’s campaign and made very few media or public appearances, although Trump proudly featured her during his election night speech in Palm Beach, Florida, saying, “Susie likes to stay a little bit in the back, let me tell you . The Ice Maiden. We call her the Ice Maiden.”

He asked if she wanted to say something, but she demurred, pushing senior campaign adviser — and her counterpart — Chris LaCivita to the front.

In a statement, Trump praised her role in his 2024 election victory, calling her “tough, smart, innovative and universally admired and respected.” He went on to say that it will be “a well-deserved honor to have Susie become the very first female Chief of Staff in the history of the United States.”

Wiles has worked for Trump’s political operation on and off since 2016. She originally ran campaign operations in Florida before helping then-candidate Ron DeSantis win the governorship in 2018, something she has called the “biggest mistake” of her career. to an interview with The Atlantic Oceanby Tim Alberta. She was named CEO of Trump’s Save America PAC in 2021 and became a senior member of the campaign leadership when Trump announced his intention to retake the White House.