White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has early stage breast cancer, Trump announces
By Adam Cancryn, CNN
(CNN) — White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, President Donald Trump announced Monday.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that Wiles has an “excellent” prognosis and would be “virtually full time at the White House” while she receives treatment.
“Her Strength and her Commitment to continue doing the job she loves, and does so well, while undergoing treatment, tells you everything you need to know about her,” he wrote.
Trump did not specify how long Wiles is expected to receive treatment or offer any additional details about her diagnosis. But he said that she “decided to take on this challenge, IMMEDIATELY, as opposed to waiting.”
Wiles, in a statement, said she plans to remain in the chief of staff role.
“I am grateful to have an outstanding team of doctors who detected the cancer early and are guiding my care, and I am encouraged by a strong prognosis,” she said.
Shortly after Trump’s statement on Truth Social, a placard for Wiles was placed immediately next to the president’s at a table set up for a meeting with the Kennedy Center board at the White House. Wiles joined Trump at the meeting, where the president called her an “amazing person, an amazing fighter” who had announced “a minor difficulty.”
“She’s going to take care of it immediately,” Trump said, adding that her prognosis was “excellent.”
A mainstay in Trump’s orbit for the past several years, Wiles helped steer his successful 2024 campaign before joining the White House as chief of staff. That appointment made her the first woman to hold the job.
Since then, Wiles has sought to closely manage the day-to-day activities inside the West Wing, while allowing Trump himself to operate largely unconstrained.
That approach contrasts sharply with Trump’s first term, when his chiefs of staff tried unsuccessfully to rein him in. And it’s won effusive praise from the president, who has occasionally referred to her as the “most powerful woman in the world” and once affectionally dubbed her “Susie Trump.”
“She will soon be better than ever!” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post. “Melania and I are with her in every way.”
Other than skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common type among women in the US, according to the American Cancer Society. It mainly occurs in women who are middle-age and older; 62 is the median age of diagnosis. Treatment depends on the type of breast cancer and its stage, but it can include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy and targeted drug therapy.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Alayna Treene, Kit Maher and Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this report.
