Three warring factions in Trump world are scrambling to install a successor to Susie Wiles as the president eyes a West Wing shake-up after the midterms, seven insiders have told the Daily Mail.
asserted
insiders → war → Mail
Wiles' acolytes are lining up deputy national security adviser Mike Needham, while Kushner's allies are pushing special envoy Steve Witkoff and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
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allies → line → Witkoff
The MAGA old guard backs deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and federal housing chief Bill Pulte, either of whom would mark a major break from Wiles' tightly run operation.
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either → back → operation
Prowling outside all three camps stands the wildcard: John 'Johnny Mac' McEntee, the MAGA 'OG' who went from campaign volunteer to Trump's body man in 2015.
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who → prowl → 2015
Picking him would be a throwback to the last year of Trump's first term, when McEntee ran the personnel office and purged officials deemed disloyal.
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McEntee → pick → officials
'John is really in a different category, it's so much more impactful and just nothing like Stephen or Bill,' a senior administration official said.
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official → say → Stephen
Trump has been sounding out allies on Wiles and musing about who might replace her, Politico reported on Thursday.
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Politico → sound → Thursday
The president told reporters on Friday there is 'zero chance' he replaces Wiles.
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he → tell → Wiles
'She's phenomenal,' he said.
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he → say → ?
'Susie is here and she's going to be here for a long time.'
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she → go → time
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles watches as Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on October 6
McEntee last month broke an 18-month Instagram hiatus with photos beside Trump and Pulte at the president's Virginia golf course.
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McEntee → watch → course
'Patriots in control,' he wrote
Rollins, Witkoff, Miller, Needham and McEntee were named to the Daily Mail on Tuesday as contenders on 'the list,' two days before Politico's report (pictured: a mock-up of a text message exchange with a Daily Mail source)
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Rollins → write → source
Wiles allies James Blair and Chris LaCivita are already under fire after being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each to advise pro-Russian Republika Srpska on its elections, the New York Times reported.
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Times → pay → elections
The president vowed a day later to ‘terminate’ the pair, who run his midterm operation, if the work posed a conflict.
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work → vow → conflict
Their super PAC said they had remained fully engaged in the midterm effort.
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they → say → effort
Wiles' daughter Katie had also flown to the Bosnian Serb territory in August with a Texas energy executive exploring a pipeline deal, the Times reported.
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Times → fly → deal
Her lobbying firm said she had not spoken to any US government official about it.
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she → say → it
'Oppo is flooding to POTUS every hour destroying Susie Wiles and her team, especially LaCivita and Blair,' a source in Trump's orbit told the Daily Mail.
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source → flood → Mail
The Daily Mail first revealed in June that Wiles was quietly planning her exit strategy after November's midterm elections.
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Wiles → reveal → elections
She insisted that she was 'not going anywhere.
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she → insist → ?
Rollins, Witkoff, Miller, Needham and McEntee were named to the Daily Mail on Tuesday as contenders on 'the list,' two days before Politico's report.
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Rollins → name → report
A second source has since confirmed all five are among those 'actually fighting for the job.
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five → confirm → job
'
'[Trump] knows internally and has told people that he knows that he's not going to win,' a former adviser to the president told the Daily Mail of the November 3 midterms.
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adviser → know → midterms
Wiles' preferred heir is Needham, a former Heritage Action CEO who served as Marco Rubio's chief of staff in the Senate and at the State Department before becoming deputy national security adviser in May, two sources said.
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sources → prefer → May
A Trump ally cast Needham as 'kind of a continuation of Susie,' but saw a snag: 'The only problem is she doesn't have any people.
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she → cast → people
Like, no one has the stature to do it.'
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one → have → it
'Rollins is seen as someone you can control, and the Wiles camp loves that,' a government source said.
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source → see → that
Rollins said that she had 'no plans or interest to leave' her role for any other in the administration and added, 'My friend Susie Wiles has been the greatest chief of staff President Trump could ask for.'
Trump is also weighing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, ousted in 2023, whose allies argue he could help the president handle a hostile Democratic Congress, Politico reported.
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Politico → say → Congress
McCarthy burst out laughing when the Daily Mail called him, and said he needed time to sleep on it before he could comment.
But two sources claimed Wiles is now pushing McCarthy to keep her grip on the West Wing once she is gone.
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she → burst → Wing
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins speaks during the MAHA summit at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Washington on September 29
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is flanked by Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump In Tel Aviv in October, 2025
Mike Needham with Secretary of State Marco Rubio (center) and the US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (right) at the State Department in April
Trump and Wiles at the White House on October 8
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envoy → speak → October
'Everyone is telling me Susie Wiles sees the writing on the wall and thinks she can install McCarthy to maintain control of the [White House] from the outside as she's finally relieved of duty,' the source in Trump's orbit told the Daily Mail.
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source → tell → Mail
The source claimed Wiles wants to convince Trump 'that McCarthy can help with a hostile Congress' and will 'spend her remaining days pushing that on the president.
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McCarthy → claim → president
'
'She tries to move her pawns on the chess board to protect the queen,' the source added.
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source → try → queen
The former adviser agreed with that sentiment, calling Wiles 'a control freak.
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adviser → agree → Wiles
'
'She is absolutely trying to control what happens next,' the former Trump adviser said.
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adviser → try → ?
'The first time I've heard his name in two years is today,' he said of McCarthy. '
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he → hear → McCarthy
Because no one in conservative space wants that.'
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one → want → that
He claimed Wiles 'was a huge fan of Kevin McCarthy, still is,' but added: 'He's one of them.
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He → claim → them
The Trump ally disagreed, saying McCarthy 'would have his own agenda.
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McCarthy → disagree → agenda
He would have his own people.
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He → have → people
…and 32 more, not listed.
The Aporia
