A lighthearted moment during a Vanity Fair photo shoot has taken on new significance after a controversial profile of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles sparked intense debate within conservative circles and the Trump administration.
During the glossy magazine shoot, an unnamed White House official made a prophetic joke that now seems prescient.
“We’re all going to get fired for this,” the official quipped while cameras clicked away.
Vice President JD Vance quickly fired back with confidence. “Except for me. I have 100 percent job security,” he said.
The photo session included several key administration figures.
The Daily Mail reported that Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Wiles, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Deputy Chiefs of Staff James Blair and Dan Scavino, and Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller all participated.
Vance displayed his characteristic humor throughout the shoot.
At one point, he joked with photographer Christopher Anderson, “I’ll give you $100 for every person you make look really s***ty compared to me. And $1,000 if it’s Marco.” He also asked, “Is this the part where you say we’re all evil?”
The profile itself featured extensive interviews with Wiles conducted over the past year.
In those conversations, the 68-year-old chief of staff made several candid observations about administration figures that have since generated controversy.
Wiles compared President Trump to her late father, legendary sportscaster Pat Summerall, noting Trump has “an alcoholic’s personality.”
She explained that the president “operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”
Trump does not drink alcohol and has spoken publicly about losing his older brother Fred to addiction and alcoholism.
Regarding Vice President Vance, Wiles noted his evolution on Trump and described him as having been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade.”
She characterized Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought, a key Project 2025 planner, as “a right-wing absolute zealot.”
When asked about former DOGE leader Elon Musk’s late-night social media activity regarding historical dictators, Wiles responded, “I think that’s when he’s micro-dosing.”
She admitted having no proof but noted Musk has acknowledged Ketamine use.
“He is a complete solo actor,” she said of Musk.
“He’s an avowed ketamine [user]. And he sleeps in a sleeping bag in the EOB [Executive Office Building] in the daytime. And he’s an odd, odd duck, as I think geniuses are. You know, it’s not helpful, but he is his own person.”
Wiles also criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi regarding Epstein files distributed to conservative influencers.
“First she gave them binders full of nothingness. And then she said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk,” Wiles stated.
The chief of staff confirmed Trump’s name appears in the Epstein files and disputed claims about former President Bill Clinton.
“There is no evidence,” that Clinton visited Epstein’s island, Wiles said. “The president was wrong about that.”
President Trump recently defended Wiles, Resist the Mainstream reported.
“No, she meant that I’m – you see, I don’t drink alcohol. So everybody knows that – but I’ve often said that if I did, I’d have a very good chance of being an alcoholic. I have said that many times about myself, I do. It’s a very possessive personality,” Trump explained.
Trump added he had not read the full Vanity Fair series.
“I didn’t read it, but I don’t read Vanity Fair – but she’s done a fantastic job,” the president said. “I think from what I hear, the facts were wrong, and it was a very misguided interviewer, purposely misguided.”
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the controversy on the White House driveway Tuesday afternoon, according to the Daily Mail.
“This is, unfortunately, another example of disingenuous reporting, where you have a reporter who took the chief of staff’s words wildly out of context, did not include the context those conversations were had within and then further, I think the most egregious part of this article was the bias of omission that was clearly present,” Leavitt said.
Vance defended Wiles during a Pennsylvania appearance Tuesday. “Sometimes I am a conspiracy theorist, but I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true,” he claimed. “Susie and I have joked in private and in public about that for a long time.”
He called Wiles “the best White House chief of staff” Trump could have and said the piece misrepresented her.
“I’ve never seen Susie Wiles say something to the president and then go and counteract him. Or subvert his will behind the scenes. And that’s what you want in a staffer. Because as much as I love Susie, the American people didn’t elect any staffer. They elected the president of the United States,” Vance stated.
Wiles issued her own statement on X. “The article published early this morning is a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history,” she wrote.
“Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story.”
