Dan Mitchinson: US correspondent on Donald Trump's new chief of staff

US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed veteran political advisor Susie Wiles as chief of staff for his return to the White House.

The 67-year-old becomes the first woman appointed to the role, having been playing an active role behind the scenes in Republican politics.

Wiles entered Trump's orbit in 2016 when she ran his campaign operations in Florida, who then used her to help Ron DeSantis and Rick Scott in their campaigns.

US correspondent Dan Mitchinson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
International Correspondence with Ends and Eye Insurance, Peace of Mind
for New Zealand Business. Dan. Listen to US Correspondence with
US Dan, Heather, how are you feeling tired?

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah? Tired? Yeah, yeah, I think I've.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Seen your Facebook posts. Yeah, yeah, more describing words please
about how are you feeling.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
I'm feeling actually a little relieved that it's over, a
little anxious about what's going to happen in January, and
even more anxious that we're going to start talking about
twenty twenty eight in about oh, I don't know, maybe
fourteen months to see who's going to throw their hat
into the ring, which I know will be Governor Gavinet.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
So no disappointment that the Orange Man got elected.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
No, I mean, it's not my It's not really my
job to say if I'm disappointed or not. It's still
a human Dan, it's my job to say that I
was surprised.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yes, I was going to ask for that. Were you surprised?

Speaker 3 (01:00):
I was. If you had asked me three months ago
who I thought was going to win this election, I
would have said Donald Trump, hands down. And that was
when Joe Biden was still running a taste. Then I
had a good feeling about Kamala Harris. And then in
the last couple of weeks there just felt like a
change that was going on, even though I didn't think
Trump was at his best out on the campaign, and
the fact that when the early pulling number started coming in,

(01:22):
I mean right away and you saw just that that
big divide. I said, oh, this is not this is
not going to be one of these things where we
don't know who's going to win for two or three days,
like everything's predicting.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah, Dan, you know, I try to warn you. I
try to warn you. I try to do a solid
by you, my friend. And I was telling you he's
going to win all the swing states and we're gonna
have an We're gonna have a result on the day.
I tried to tell you, But anyway, you didn't want
to listen to it. Now look at you.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
You did.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Anyway, It's going to be a fun four years though
we can at least we can at least get it.
But I'll tell you what you know. For all the
people who think that Donald Trump hates women, it is
quite something that he has appointed Susie Wilds to be
his chief of stuff. And am I right in thinking
that she is the first woman in the history of
your country to be appointed as chief of staff.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
She is, and that is just a head scratcher to
think that it has taken that long to get and
it takes a lady hated to do it. Well, yeah
it is.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
And basically, I mean she's the one who's credited behind
the scenes for helping Donald Trump to win this thing.
I mean, she goes all the way back to the seventies,
in the early eighties, she worked with Reagan back in
the day.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
But she has avoided the spotlight, which is why a
lot of people don't even know who she is.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
She didn't want to take the mic when Trump said
come on up during the celebration Wednesday morning. And I
think most people will agree that she's earned his respect
and maybe we'll stick around for a while because during
his first administration he went through I think three or
maybe four chiefs of staff. But apparently this is a
woman that, you know, when she doesn't like what Trump says,
he knows it and respects that, and she can just

(02:53):
sort of stare him down, you know what.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
She has a vibe about her that's not sycophantica, like
she has quite a matron lee vibe. I reckon that
she would have him by the shortened curlies. She'd be
chilling him off.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
I think, can I tell you this is the highlight
of my week, honestly, when I get to talk with
you about this stuff.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yes I can from the other side of the world.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
But you're right, You're right, And I think she is
going to stick around for a little while now.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Joe Biden, do you think he does deserve the criticism
that he's getting at the moment for holding on too
long and essentially helping Karmala to lose the election.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
I think he deserves part of that. After listening to
him speak today, I think this was probably the best
speech that I've heard him give in some time. I mean,
he seems sincere, he seemed presidential. I think he gave
the type of message that most people wanted to hear
and needed to hear. Over here vowing this, you know this,
this peaceful transition, and saying setbacks are unavoidable, but giving

(03:47):
up is unforgivable.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
I thought it was a very well written speech. I
thought he looked on on target.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
It's too bad that he didn't do this six months
ago and he didn't come across like this six months ago.
They may not have had to drag Kamala to the
to the front of the DNC. And I mean, who
knows where she's going to end up, you know, in
the future in terms of the party. But I think
it's safe to say for the next four years, basically
this is going to be a Republican led country and
Donald Trump is the you know, the godfather of the

(04:14):
Republican Party.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yeah, it's quite an interesting time. He dan listen, Thank
you very much, and I look forward to talking to
you again next week. For another highlight off your week,
Ted Mitchison, how you is correspondent. For more from Hither
Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news Talks it'd be
from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.