WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump had a two-word answer for the latest media hit job: “Zero chance.” Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn Friday, October 16, before departing the White House for his rally in Georgia, the President shut down a Politico report claiming he is shopping around for a new chief of staff.
“It was a fake story. Let me just tell you — the Susie Wiles story was a fake story,” President Trump said. “She’s been incredible. We’ve had maybe the most successful first two years — and it’s not even two years — in the history of the presidency. She’s been my chief of staff. She’s smart. She’s tough.”
The President also praised Wiles’s courage after her recent health battle. “She just went through a lot with the cancer surgery and the whole thing. And she recovered, fully recovered. She’s phenomenal,” he said. Earlier in the gaggle he added: “She’s cancer-free, as they say. Two nice words, cancer-free. And she was very brave in fighting it.”
Trump said the White House warned Politico before the piece ran. “We told that to Politico. We said, your story is totally wrong. And the only one that matters is me, because I’m the one that makes the decision,” he said. “So they made up fake news. They released it, knowing it was a fake story. Susie is here, and she’s going to be here for a long time.”
The President covered plenty of ground before boarding Marine One. He predicted oil prices will “drop like a rock” once the war with Iran ends, praised the hero who stopped the Oregon school shooter — “thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it” — and declared that “the U.S. economy has never been stronger,” with more investment pouring into America than ever before. Watch the full gaggle in the video above.
