(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) President Donald Trump defended White House chief of staff Susie Wiles after she granted unfettered access to leftist magazine Vanity Fair, which published a hit piece on Tuesday.
Wiles’s Vanity Fair interview, which spanned 11 months and included 12 sit-downs, was widely viewed as a major unforced error.
The piece featured cherry-picked quotes from Wiles, including a quote that Trump has an “alcoholic’s personality,” along with uncontextualized comments about other cabinet officials.
Vanity Fair knows exactly what they’re doing.
Another way they demonstrate bias against Republicans.
Truly insulting and worthy of an apology. https://t.co/tOaovCvZs8
— Kaelan Dorr (@Kaelan47) December 16, 2025
Vanity Fair also published unflattering photos of Vice President JD Vance, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a major violation of journalistic norms.
Trump on Tuesday afternoon dismissed the Vanity Fair piece and stood by Wiles in remarks to the New York Post.
“I didn’t read it, but I don’t read Vanity Fair — but she’s done a fantastic job,” Trump said of Wiles, as quoted by the Post. “I think from what I hear, the facts were wrong, and it was a very misguided interviewer, purposely misguided.”
Trump affirmed he retained full confidence in Wiles, calling her “fantastic.”
He also dismissed concerns about Wiles granting broad access to legacy media, telling the Post that the Vanity Fair reporter behind the piece “didn’t have great access” and the meeting amounted to “very short interviews.”
Trump went on to blast the outlet directly.
“If anybody knows the interviewer, and if they know Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair is a totally — it’s lost its way. It’s also lost its readers, as you know. No, she’s fantastic,” he continued.
Trump even appeared to partially agree with the “alcoholic’s personality” comparison, saying he has a “possessive” personality.
“I’ve said that many times about myself. I’m fortunate I’m not a drinker. If I did, I could very well, because I’ve said that — what’s the word? Not possessive — possessive and addictive type personality. Oh, I’ve said it many times, many times before,” he stated.
Trump’s comments came as legacy media figures aggrandized Vanity Fair’s claims, with images from the story circulating widely on social media.
Some cable news outlets went as far as to suggest that Trump was an alcoholic, though he has repeatedly stated he does not drink.
