Caroline Sunshine, a former press assistant for President Donald Trump, is publicly calling for White House chief of staff Susie Wiles to resign, citing Wiles' alleged role in the Republican Party's recent midterm election losses. Sunshine described the outcome as "100% preventable."
"Susie Wiles needs to resign," Sunshine stated during an appearance on Fox News. "She needs to offer her resignation to the president before he has to ask for it." While acknowledging Wiles' past success in helping Trump win the presidency in 2024, Sunshine argued that her campaign skills did not translate to effective governance.
Sunshine contends that Wiles is responsible for "historic losses," including losing Mississippi and potentially the Senate for six years. She believes that if Wiles "loves and respects the president and his legacy," she should "do the right thing and step aside" to prevent further damage to the party's trajectory, particularly concerning future electoral success.
Republicans experienced significant losses in the recent midterm elections, a result that contradicted many pre-election polls. Sunshine suggested that Trump's staff and team mishandled the winning strategy used in 2024, effectively handing advantages to the Democrats. She pointed to a decline in support from young men and minority groups who had previously backed Trump, attributing this to "staff failure" and a "strategy and messaging failure."
"It's the chief of staff's job to manage the staff," Sunshine asserted, questioning the absence of campaign messaging from the president's staff on various media platforms. "Abdul El-Sayed came on this network three times. The president's staff was not out there on CNN and MS NOW and podcasts carrying his message."
Sunshine's call for Wiles' resignation follows a Politico report that suggested Wiles' position was in jeopardy. However, Trump previously dismissed these reports, stating there was "zero chance" of replacing her and expressing his "COMPLETE confidence" in Wiles, whom he described as his "loyal and longest serving Chief of Staff."