Trump called her the most powerful woman in the world. Susie Wiles is out

The firm where she worked topped Washington

Susie Wiles, the Ponte Vedra Beach strategist who ran Donald Trump's White House, worked her last day as his chief of staff on Friday. Ballard Partners, the Florida lobby firm where she worked for years, was Washington's top-earning lobby firm in 2025, at more than $88 million. Florida companies, counties and universities are among the clients who pay it to press their case with Congress and federal agencies.

Why it matters: The firm's own lobbying reports to Congress list its income from each client, and Florida governments are on them. By our count, 26 Florida counties, cities, school boards, public universities and authorities account for about $2.6 million of its 2025 income, which is public money. All its clients with Florida addresses account for about $14.8 million.

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, takes over Monday. Neither Trump nor Wiles gave a reason in their announcements. Three sources told CBS News her exit was tied to Republicans' midterm defeats. Wiles appears on none of the firm's 2025 or 2026 lobbying reports, and no record we found shows she acted for a Ballard client. Calley Means, a former Trump health adviser, told CBS News that Wiles and "a very close-knit crew" of advisers "were taking money from the industries we ran on fighting against." He offered no proof in that interview. A Wiles spokesperson called his accusations "outrageous, defamatory, and provably false," Axios reported, and Wiles denied his claim that she set up a tobacco meeting with the president, CBS reported. Ballard Partners called his account of its dealings with her false, and Attorney General Todd Blanche called him a "disgruntled former administration official," Axios reported. Trump told associates that Brian Ballard, who runs the firm, "is not welcome in anything anymore," POLITICO reported in 2025. Ballard told POLITICO that he has never touted his relationships with people in the West Wing to try to win clients.

Trump has called Wiles "the most powerful woman in the world," the AP and The National report.

The Florida names on Ballard's books

Ballard reported $88.1 million in federal lobbying income in 2025, by our count of its filings with Congress. Bloomberg Government reported that the firm "hauled in more than $88 million" and called it the "new leader on K Street." Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck dropped to No. 2 at $73.9 million, Bloomberg Government reported.

By our count, 87 clients with Florida addresses appear on the firm's 2025 federal filings. The 83 of them that reported income account for $14.76 million. They include U.S. Sugar at $480,000, Publix at $300,000, Trulieve at $250,000, Seminole Hard Rock Digital at $240,000, and NextEra Energy and Florida Power & Light at $200,000.

Public money is part of it. By our count, 26 Florida public bodies account for $2.62 million of Ballard's 2025 federal income. They are counties, cities, school boards, public authorities such as JEA, and public universities.

Manatee County reported $200,000. The Jacksonville Transportation Authority and the Lee County School Board each reported $170,000. Pinellas County reported $130,000, and Miami-Dade County and Miami-Dade County Public Schools each reported $120,000. Pasco County reported $80,000 and Palm Beach County $20,000.

The same 26 bodies account for $1.72 million from January through September 2026, by our count. Over those nine months the firm reported $98.1 million in all, about $10 million more than in all of 2025.

How the firm rose

The firm opened its Washington office shortly after Trump's 2017 inauguration, POLITICO reported, and its lobbying revenue fell while he was out of office. In all of 2024 it earned $19.3 million from lobbying, 15th on K Street, Mother Jones reported. A year later it was No. 1.

No record we found ties that rise to Wiles. In May 2025 POLITICO reported that a Ballard employee at a Mar-a-Lago donor event repeatedly urged Trump to post a "Crypto Strategic Reserve" message naming Ripple, a Ballard client. Trump then told associates that Ballard "is not welcome in anything anymore," POLITICO reported. Ballard disputed being frozen out and said he has never touted West Wing ties to win clients.

Ballard has been a top fundraiser for Trump's campaigns, POLITICO reported. In 2025 the firm filed 207 new federal client registrations, by our count.

Federal filings list "SUSAN WILES" as a Ballard lobbyist for 8 clients in 2017 and 24 in 2018. They include the City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Port Authority, The Mosaic Company and the Children's Hospital Association.

Foreign governments on file

Ballard is also registered with the Justice Department as an agent of foreign governments. Its filings list Saudi Arabia's embassy in Washington as a client from April 4, 2025, until that work ended Sept. 30, 2026. They list Turkey's Ministry of National Defense as a client since Aug. 21, 2026. An earlier registration listed Qatar's embassy from April 2018 to December 2020.

How she left

Wiles announced it on X. "Today is my last day as White House Chief of Staff," she wrote, CBS News reported. "Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime."

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Wiles, "who has done an outstanding job, will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation," CBS reported. He called Miller "one of my most trusted advisors." The change takes effect Monday, Trump said, The National reported.

Neither Trump nor Wiles gave a reason in their announcements, the St. Johns Citizen reported. "I wanted to make a change," Trump told reporters, CBS reported. A U.S. official and a senior White House adviser told CBS that Wiles submitted her resignation Thursday night. Three sources told CBS it was tied to Republicans' midterm defeats.

Calley Means, a former Trump health adviser, accused Wiles of serving special interests on Joe Rogan's podcast Friday and on CBS's Face the Nation Sunday. He said she and "a very close-knit crew" of advisers "were taking money from the industries we ran on fighting against," CBS News reported. He offered no proof in that interview. Wiles denied his claim that she arranged a meeting between tobacco industry representatives and the president, CBS reported. A Wiles spokesperson called his accusations "outrageous, defamatory, and provably false," Axios reported. Ballard Partners called his accusations about its dealings with Wiles false, and Attorney General Todd Blanche called Means a "disgruntled former administration official," Axios reported. Means told CBS he had wanted Wiles removed. CBS said it is not clear whether his remarks played a part in her exit.

The turn was quick. In mid-October Trump told NBC News that Wiles would "be there until the end." The week before her exit, he said there was "zero chance" he would replace her, The National reported.

Her deputy is leaving too. Richard Walters, a White House deputy chief of staff and a longtime Wiles ally, is leaving the administration as Miller takes over, Fox News reported. Miller called Walters "an invaluable member of the White House" and said he "will continue to help from the outside."

A Florida career first

Wiles is a longtime Ponte Vedra Beach resident, the St. Johns Citizen and News4JAX report. She worked for Jacksonville mayors John Delaney and John Peyton. Under Delaney she was the first woman to serve as a Jacksonville mayor's chief of staff, News4JAX reported. She managed Rick Scott's winning 2010 campaign for governor.

In 2011 Smith & Ballard, a firm founded in 1998 and then based in Tallahassee, chose Wiles and former Jacksonville Jaguar Tony Boselli to lead its new Ponte Vedra office, the Jacksonville Daily Record reported. The AP calls her a former partner at Florida-based Ballard Partners. She was also registered as a lobbyist for Globovision, a Venezuelan television network, the AP reported. After she became his de facto campaign manager in 2022, she lobbied for a different firm, Mercury, the AP reported in 2024.

She oversaw Trump's 2016 campaign in Florida, co-managed his 2024 campaign and was his first announced hire after that win, the AP reported. She was the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff and is Trump's longest-serving chief, the AP reported. NBC News reported that she held the job longer than any of the four chiefs of staff in his first term. Her father was the NFL player and broadcaster Pat Summerall.

Their side

"Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime," Wiles wrote on X. Brian Ballard told POLITICO in 2025: "Susie Wiles has been and will be my dear friend well beyond our time in politics." He also told POLITICO he has never touted his relationships with people in the West Wing to try to win clients. Answering Means on Sunday, Ballard Partners said in a statement that it did not lobby Wiles or anyone in the White House on fruit-flavored vapes or on glyphosate, the weedkiller ingredient, Axios and The Daily Caller reported.

What's next

What's next: Miller starts as chief of staff Monday, Nov. 9. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Wiles "will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation," CBS reported. His post did not describe her role there, The National reported, and no title for her is on the record. Ballard's fourth-quarter federal lobbying reports, which complete its 2026 total, are due Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2027.

Sources we read

Senate and House Lobbying Disclosure Act filings for Ballard Partners (registrant 401104288), 2017, 2018, 2025 and 2026, pulled Nov. 7 and recounted Nov. 8. Justice Department FARA eFile, registrations 7070 and 6415, read Nov. 8. 2 U.S.C. 1604, via Cornell's Legal Information Institute. CBS News (Jennifer Jacobs, Kathryn Watson, Olivia Rinaldi), Nov. 6. NBC News (Jonathan Allen, Rebecca Shabad), Nov. 6. The AP via PBS NewsHour and OPB (Seung Min Kim), Nov. 6. The National (Jihan Abdalla), Nov. 6. The AP via ABC News (Josh Boak), Oct. 25. St. Johns Citizen, Nov. 6. News4JAX (John Asebes), Nov. 8, 2024. The AP via WUSF, Nov. 23, 2024. Jacksonville Daily Record, Feb. 2, 2011. POLITICO via Yahoo (Rachael Bade, Caitlin Oprysko), May 8, 2025. Bloomberg Government (Kate Ackley), Jan. 21. Mother Jones (Russ Choma), April 22, 2025. Fox News (Bonny Chu, Patrick Ward), Nov. 8. Just the News (Nicholas Ballasy), Nov. 8. CBS News (Margaret Brennan, Kiki Intarasuwan), Nov. 8, and the Face the Nation transcript, Nov. 8. Axios, Nov. 8. The Daily Caller via AOL (Mark Tanos), Nov. 8.