President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday announced that Susie Wiles, one of his two campaign managers, will be his White House chief of staff, entrusting a top position to a political operative who helped the Republican win the election.
The appointment was the first of what is expected to be a flurry of staffing announcements as Trump girds for a return to the White House on Jan. 20.
As gatekeeper to the president, the chief of staff typically wields great influence. The person manages White House staff, organizes the president's time and schedule, and maintains contact with other government departments and lawmakers.
The low-key Wiles, 67, will be the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff.
“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected," Trump said in a statement. "I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”
Trump has been secluded at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, since defeating Democrat Kamala Harris in Tuesday's election.
He is considering a wide array of people for top jobs in his administration, many of them familiar figures from his 2017-2021 presidency, four sources said.
Wiles, a long-time Florida-based political strategist, and fellow campaign manager Chris LaCivita are credited with running a more disciplined operation for Trump’s third presidential bid compared with his past campaigns.
Trump thanked them both during his victory speech early on Wednesday.
"Susie likes to stay in the back, let me tell you," Trump said, as she stood toward the back of the stage. "We call her the ice maiden."
Several people who have worked with Wiles said in interviews on Thursday that she would provide stability and sage counsel to Trump in the White House.
Trump ran through four chiefs of staff - an unusually high number - during his 2017-2021 term as they struggled to rein in the famously undisciplined president.
"Susie is a strong woman and a true leader with a proven track record of getting things done," said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell.
Wiles previously worked on Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign and helped Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis win the election in 2018. She served as a senior adviser on Trump's 2016 and 2020 bids.
Trump chose Wiles over former House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who is close to Trump and has been a frequent visitor to Mar-a-Lago.
Sources said McCarthy had been in contention as well as Brooke Rollins, who was the former acting director of Trump's Domestic Policy Council.
A fierce Trump ally, New York Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, is under consideration to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a source familiar with the matter said.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who was an acting intelligence chief in Trump's first term and was with him when he recently met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in New York, is under consideration for secretary of state.
Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan, is also under consideration for that position, the sources said.
Hagerty, asked by CNN about being considered for a role in Trump's administration, said, "I'll leave the speculation to the speculators."
U.S. President Joe Biden urged Americans to "bring down the temperature" on Thursday following Republican Donald Trump's election victory and sought to console fellow Democrats who were alarmed by the former president's stunning comeback.
"Setbacks are unavoidable. Giving up is unforgivable," Biden said at the White House Rose Garden as he addressed staff who were disappointed in Vice President Kamala Harris' defeat. "A defeat does not mean we are defeated."
Biden said Tuesday's election had proven the integrity of the U.S. electoral system and pledged an orderly transfer of power - an implicit rebuke of Trump, who sought to overturn his 2020 defeat to Biden and raised baseless claims of fraud during this year's campaign as well.
"Something I hope we can do no matter who you voted for is to see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans, bring down the temperature," Biden said. "I also hope we can lay to rest the question about the integrity of the American electoral system. It is honest, it is fair, and it is transparent. And it can be trusted, win or lose."
Biden invited Trump to come meet at the White House -- a courtesy Trump did not offer to Biden in 2020 -- and Trump's campaign said the president-elect would go. In the weeks ahead, Trump will select personnel to serve under his leadership.
Some Democrats have blamed Biden, 81, for Harris' defeat, saying he should not have sought reelection. Biden only dropped his reelection bid in July after a disastrous TV debate with Trump raised alarm bells about his mental fitness.
"We lost this battle. The America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up," he said.
Harris sought on Wednesday to console supporters. Like Biden, she promised to aid Trump's transition before his inauguration on Jan. 20 but urged Democrats to continue to fight for what they believe in.
Some Democrats worried the loss means their values – left-leaning, socially liberal – are now firmly a minority among Americans. Others were frustrated with the party's leadership, who they said had lost touch with voters who wanted help with the high cost of living.
Biden did not address his role in the election or criticism from members of his party. He has said repeatedly that he ran for office in 2020 to "restore the soul of America" from the chaos around Trump. Biden's own legacy now will be bookended by the Republican's return instead.
DECISIVE VICTORY
Trump's victory, surprisingly decisive after opinion polls had shown a neck-and-neck contest, underscored how disenchanted Americans had become with the economy - in particular inflation - along with border security and the direction of the country and its culture.
Hispanics, traditionally Democratic voters, and lower-income households hit hardest by inflation helped fuel Trump's victory.
Harris' campaign pressed the message that Trump was unfit to serve again as president, as a convicted felon and one whose false claims of voting fraud inspired a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a failed bid to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden.
[1/4]U.S. President Joe Biden gestures as he delivers remarks on the 2024 election results and the upcoming presidential transition of power, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Purchase Licensing Rights
The former president will face far fewer limits on his power in his second White House term, as the head of a Republican Party that he has remade in his image over the last eight years.
Republicans wrested the U.S. Senate from Democrats in Tuesday's vote, ensuring Trump's party will control at least one chamber of Congress next year. Republicans also held an edge in the battle for the House of Representatives, though 38 of the 435 races still had no winner.
Trump prevailed in five of the seven battleground states to give him at least 295 Electoral College votes, more than the 270 needed to win the presidency. He was leading in the remaining two, Arizona and Nevada, where votes were still being tallied.
Trump was also on track to become the first Republican presidential candidate to win the highest number of votes nationally since George W. Bush two decades ago. He lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 but secured enough Electoral College votes to win the White House.
World stocks gained on Thursday after a record rise for U.S. shares overnight, and U.S. Treasuries remained under pressure as investors processed the impact of a second Trump presidency.
Wall Street executives expected smaller government, broad deregulation as well as tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, although fresh tariffs could bring challenges in the form of a higher deficit and inflation.
PERSONNEL PICKS
Among people who may figure in Trump's leadership, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a prominent Trump donor, has been promised a role in his administration, as has former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson and investor Scott Bessent were seen as possible cabinet officers in his administration, while former Trump officials Robert O'Brien and Mike Pompeo could return to office.
On trade, Trump is expected to revive policies he favored during his first term, notably tariffs that he has called the "most beautiful word."
That could set him on a collision course with China, which has the world's second-largest economy, sow discord with allies and roil global industries from automakers to chipmakers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent Trump a congratulatory message and said he hopes the two powers will coexist peacefully, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was among world leaders congratulating Trump. But Trump has been critical of U.S. assistance for Ukraine in its war with Russia. He has said he could end the war in 24 hours but has not said how.
The White House plans to rush billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine before Biden leaves office in January, sources said on Wednesday, hoping to shore up the government in Kyiv before Trump takes over.
For the second time in U.S. history, a major party nominated a woman for president, and for the second time she lost. Democrat Kamala Harris' election loss to Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday followed Hillary Clinton's loss to him in 2016.
Reasons for Harris' loss were many - an Edison Research exit poll showed deep concerns about the state of the economy and people's financial situation was a driving factor.
But sexism persists. An October Reuters/Ipsos poll found a 55% majority of registered voters said sexism was a major problem in the U.S., while 15% said they would not be comfortable voting for a female president.
Women head governments in 13 of the 193 member states of the United Nations, although the number of countries that have had female leaders has risen steadily since 1990.
In the United States, 51% of the population are women and 42% are people of color, according to the U.S. Census. American women trail men in terms of pay and representation in government and management.
CONGRESS, GOVERNORS
The 2022-24 U.S. Congress was 28% women, the highest percentage in history, and 25% of lawmakers identified as Black, Hispanic, Asian American, American Indian, Alaska Native, or multiracial, according to Pew Research Center.
Of the 143 women in the 117th Congress, 49, or 34.3%, are women of color, the Center for American Women and Politics said.
In 1975, Ella Grasso became the first of 49 women elected governor of U.S. states, said the Center for American Women and Politics. Three women of color - SuSana Martinez and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, both of whom are Hispanic, and Nikki Haley of South Carolina, an Indian American - have served as governors, but no Black women.
WHITE HOUSE OCCUPANTS
Every one of America's presidents has been male. Democratic former President Barack Obama was the first Black man elected to the office in 2008.
If elected, Harris would have been the first woman and first woman of color to serve as president.
Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, was the first woman to run as a major party's nominee for president in 2016; she won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to Trump.
Harris was the first woman vice president, having taken office in 2021 with President Joe Biden. Geraldine Anne Ferraro, a Democrat, was the first woman nominated by a major party for vice president in 1984.
PAY GAP
The progress towards closing the gender pay gap in the 20th century slowed in the 21st century. In 1982, women made 65 cents for every dollar men made; by 2002 that figure was up to 80 cents, according to Pew Research Center.
In 2023, women working full-time year-round jobs made 84 cents for every man's dollar, the Department of Labor reports. Black women made 69 cents for every white men's dollar.
EDUCATION DISPARITIES
Women have been more likely to obtain a bachelor's degree than men since 1981, according to the National Center for Education Studies. In 2019, women began making up a majority of the college-educated workforce, the Pew Research Center found, a trend that has intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABORTION RIGHTS
Harris was born in 1964, four years after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the modern birth control pill and nine years before Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that created federal protections for abortion access.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court removed those protections, limiting access in over half of U.S. states. That makes the United States one of four countries globally to reduce legal access to abortion care, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
CEOS, BOARDROOMS
Women made up 11% of chief executives at Fortune 500 companies, Pew Research found in 2024, and 30% of Fortune 500 board members.
Across S&P 500 company boardrooms, women accounted for 34% of all directors this year, up from 33% last year and 19% in 2014, according to leadership advisory firm Spencer Stuart.
A 2023 McKinsey study showed that companies with over 30% women executives were more likely to outperform companies with fewer women executives or none.
MATERNAL MORTALITY
The U.S. has the highest rate of maternal deaths of any high-income nation, and over 80% of those deaths are preventable, the Commonwealth Fund reported in 2024.
Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC and health experts attribute the inequities to chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease but also structural racism, implicit bias from healthcare providers, and lack of access to quality healthcare.
Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential election victory has sent shockwaves through Black American communities, which voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris despite a campaign by her Republican rival to court Black men.
While Trump made gains among Black Americans in North Carolina and some in the community celebrated his win, nationally his vote share among Black voters was unchanged in the Tuesday vote from 2020, according to an exit poll conducted by Edison Research, which showed a much larger swing towards Trump among Hispanic voters.
Black voters were important to President Joe Biden's victory over Trump in 2020 when Harris was also elected as the first Black and first Asian-American U.S. vice president. Had she won on Tuesday, Harris would have become the United States' first woman president.
A majority of the two dozen Black Americans who spoke to Reuters for this story said they feared a second Trump term, including a rollback of civil rights after he pledges to end federal diversity and inclusion programs.
Many said his rhetoric, including racist and sexist language, proved he does not have the best interests of Black Americans at heart.
Mary Spencer, 72, a retired nurse and educator in Oak Creek, in swing state Wisconsin, was dismayed by Trump's victory. She said Trump's opinion of Black people was condescending.
"Because that's what he thinks of us - that we only strive to do the jobs that (illegal) immigrants come to do - which he identifies as housekeeping or working on landscape projects. Things that don't require much skill or education."
At an event with Black journalists in July, Trump said immigrants were taking "Black jobs", reinforcing racist stereotypes about the kinds of work Black Americans do.
Trump denies he is racist. He says his economic agenda will lower taxes, and housing costs, and boost job creation for all Americans, including Black Americans. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Katrena Holmes, 51, a Black entrepreneur from Riverdale, Georgia, voted for Harris, hoping she would unify the country and reduce racial inequities. A Trump victory threatens to arrest progress on closing those gaps, given his policy agenda and rhetoric, she said.
"There's a spirit of divisiveness," she said.
Nadia Brown, director of the women's and gender studies program at Georgetown University, said Trump's victory has likely dealt "a blow psychologically" to many Black Americans, who had been excited by the prospect of having the nation's first woman president and its second Black commander in chief who could usher in policy change for their communities.
"His rhetoric, and all of the race-baiting and racist remarks, it's just going to be more of a distraction," Brown said, adding people will feel dejected after spending months organizing on the ground for Harris.
However, civil and voting rights groups said the result would galvanize them to fight even harder for racial equality.
"We're going to mobilize at every angle to try to stop the continued progression of the rollback of all of our fundamental rights and freedoms. We won't be quiet," said Jotaka Eaddy, the founder of the Win With Black Women group, which kicked off a ground swell of organizing for Harris and raised millions of dollars in the early hours after she rose to the top of the ticket in July.
Trump has said immigrants in the U.S. illegally are "poisoning the blood of our country." He spread false claims that Haitians were eating cats and dogs in an Ohio town and promised to fight what he called "anti-white feeling."
At the event with journalists in July, Trump falsely claimed Harris previously downplayed her Black heritage.
Harris won 86% of the Black vote, compared to 12% for Trump, according to Edison Research, the same share of support Biden received in 2020.
Throughout his campaign, Trump tried to make inroads with Black men, but he only received 20% of their vote, a one percentage point increase from 2020, according to Edison Research. Harris won 92% of Black women voters nationwide, up two points from 2020. Black voters accounted for 11% of the share of voters nationwide.
TRUMP SWING
In some parts of the country, Trump’s message, including the promise to keep a lid on inflation, did lead to gains amongst the Black community.
In North Carolina, an Edison Research exit poll showed Trump boosting his share of the Black vote to 12%, from 7% in 2020. He garnered the support of 20% of Black male voters, in line with the national average, according to the poll.
Trump won North Carolina with about 51% of the vote.
In another of the states that decided Trump's win, Georgia, Trump’s share of the Black vote rose by one percentage point to 12%, according to Edison Research. Shedrick Carter, 38, a Black man and a small business owner in Atlanta, was celebrating the former president's victory.
He believes Trump will improve the lives of Black Americans by boosting jobs, lowering prices, and keeping America out of foreign wars.
"He's going to be amazing for Black people," said Carter, who voted early for Trump, also his choice in the previous two elections.
At a roller skating rink in Atlanta, Bryson Goodbeir, 32, who works in demolition on construction sites, said his financial situation was better under Trump's presidency.
"I like his assertiveness. I like the way he carries himself," Goodbeir said, adding he believes Trump will improve the economy and reduce the cost of living.
Goodbeir said he supported Trump's tough stance on people entering the U.S. illegally because he believes it helps Black workers. "Trump is trying to protect us," Goodbeir said.
But Sondra Walker, a Black teacher in North Carolina, was deeply worried by Trump's victory, calling it "dangerous for Black Americans."
"I just think he is a dangerous human being, " said Walker, 63, from the city of Creedmoor in the battleground state.
Shenekia McDaniels, a 40-year-old teacher who lives in Asheville, North Carolina, is also worried about a second Trump term.
"Some of the stuff that Trump says and gets away with, and people clap, and there's never a repercussion for it. That just blows my mind.