White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles Describes Undergoing Chemotherapy While Leading Trump Administration
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles published an op-ed in USA Today on Sunday describing her experience fighting breast cancer while leading the White House staff. Wiles disclosed her early-stage breast cancer diagnosis in March and announced on September 16 that she was cancer-free after clear pathology results following an appointment at the Mayo Clinic. She underwent chemotherapy during her tenure and reported that surgery ultimately showed no residual cancer.
Single source · Not corroborated
Wiles, writing in a first-person op-ed, described the physical and mental toll of undergoing chemotherapy while holding one of Washington's most demanding jobs. She wrote that the disease occupied her thoughts from the moment she woke up, and sometimes while she slept, with questions about treatment, test results, and what might come next. "Fighting cancer is brutal and unrelenting," she wrote.
She described the experience in dual terms: some days she directed all her energy toward fighting the disease; on others, getting out of bed and going to work was its own test. "Most days, I carried the full weight of both," she wrote. Treatment affected her stamina, mobility, and at times her focus, and she acknowledged she could not always be everywhere she wanted to be. Colleagues inside and outside the White House stepped in during those periods.
Wiles credited her two daughters, extended family, friends, and medical team with helping her through the illness. Her daughter Katie Wiles responded to the op-ed on X, writing, "A strong woman isn't loud in her strength; she's steady and unshakable." President Trump, who had praised Wiles in a prerecorded May tribute, said she was winning her cancer battle; Wiles thanked him for his kindness and compassion.