There's more trouble at the top, as the White House is in freefall thanks to a tell-all Vanity Fair interview. While it was presumably supposed to promote the biggest movers and shakers behind the scenes of the current administration, it's since been embroiled in scandals involving unflattering photographs, sensationalist stories, and claims that it's a 'hit piece' on those closest to President Donald Trump.
Giving the scoop of the year, Vanity Fair published a two-part profile that got closer than ever to Donald Trump's inner circle. This included a glossy shoot with the likes of Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. This came courtesy of a series of interviews with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, but it's fair to say she's not happy with what's been presented to the world.
As well as the outlet being branded as 'shameful' for a close-up shot of Leavitt, Wiles has now clapped back at interviewer Chris Whipple writing that she called Elon Musk "an avowed ketamine [user]."
Over the course of 11 interviews across 2025, the journalist known for 2017's The Gatekeeper about White House Chief of Staff proved he wasn't afraid to ask the big questions.
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Dismissing the supposed ketamine comments, Wiles told The New York Times: "That’s ridiculous. I wouldn’t have said it and I wouldn’t know."
This is something Whipple has attempted to prove, sharing audio with the NYT where the outlet confirmed she's heard saying: "The challenge with Elon is keeping up with him. He’s an avowed ketamine [user]. And he sleeps in a sleeping bag in the EOB [Executive Office Building] in the daytime."
The Chief of Staff then adds: "He’s [Musk] an odd, odd duck, as I think geniuses are. You know, it’s not helpful, but he is his own person."
Elsewhere, Wiles seemed to join those criticizing Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of the Epstein Wiles, referred to Vance as “a conspiracy theorist for a decade," and called out Musk over his dismantling of USAID as part of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Posting on X, Wiles has continued her takedown of the Whipple two-parter, stating: "The article published early this morning is a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history."
Claiming that 'significant context' was left out, she maintains that much of what she and others said was also missing: "I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team."
Still, Whipple is standing by his piece. Speaking to CNN, he concluded: "This reminds me of Ben Bradlee during the Watergate days, who talked about non-denial denial. This is a classic non-denial denial. They‘re not contesting any of the substance of the piece because they know it‘s true.
"Every interview was recorded, everything is on tape. And so they know that they just can‘t go there."
For now, the White House is standing firmly behind Wiles. The New York Post reports that the POTUS wasn't offended by her choice of words and claims that he has an 'alcoholic's personality', telling the outlet: "I didn’t read it, but I don’t read Vanity Fair — but she’s done a fantastic job.
“I think from what I hear, the facts were wrong, and it was a very misguided interviewer, purposely misguided.”
Even though the President is standing by Wiles, something tells us the scandal of the Vanity Fair interview could go down in history as one of the year's biggest PR fails.