White House Pushes Back as MAGA Critics Target ‘Ice Maiden’ Susie Wiles

White House Pushes Back as MAGA Critics Target ‘Ice Maiden’ Susie Wiles

Senior figures in the Trump orbit publicly defended longtime aide Susie Wiles after a wave of criticism from hardline MAGA activists and online commentators who blamed her for recent presidential missteps. Vice President J.D. Vance, Donald Trump Jr., Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other senior White House officials rallied to Wiles’s defense as critics suggested she had steered the administration away from more uncompromising positions.

The attacks focused in part on messaging and policy controversies that have dogged the White House lately — including remarks on affordability, skilled-worker visas, Chinese students at U.S. universities and the administration’s response to recently released Epstein-related emails. Some hardline voices argued those stumbles pointed to a broader shift toward a more moderate, corporate-friendly GOP approach.

Supporters of Wiles pushed back strongly. Vance told the Daily Beast that "the Twitter trolls running their mouths don’t know the first thing about Susie Wiles or how this White House works," and praised her contributions to advancing the MAGA agenda. Trump’s son also called Wiles “the most loyal and trusted advisor and friend my father could have ever asked for,” crediting her with playing a central role in the 2024 campaign and in staffing the West Wing.

“There are few people in this world that have done more to advance the MAGA agenda than Susie,” J.D. Vance said.

Some critics went further, accusing Wiles of working against the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative — a White House priority described by supporters as an effort to reduce chronic disease through changes in diet, environmental policy and public-health agency practices. Voices from the right, including commentator Ann Vandersteel and political operative Raheem Kassam, warned that Wiles’s influence had nudged the administration toward the GOP center; others publicly accused her of siding with pharmaceutical interests against MAHA allies.

Health Secretary Kennedy and White House spokespeople rejected those claims. Kennedy called the attacks "a small number of chaos agents" acting from ignorance or malice and urged focus on MAHA’s accomplishments and remaining work. White House spokesman Kush Desai credited Wiles’s leadership with several administration successes on MAHA priorities and said critics were acting in bad faith.

Trump has consistently defended Wiles, using the nickname “Ice Maiden” and praising her role inside the West Wing. The dispute highlights tensions within the MAGA movement over strategy and messaging as the administration prepares for the midterm cycle; some activists warned that continued unrest could jeopardize Wiles’s standing if complaints persist.

What to watch next: Whether the backlash subsides after the White House’s public defense, or whether hardline activists intensify calls for personnel changes ahead of the midterms.